The Way Things Should Have Been
by A1NoSauce
Summary: What if Naruto befriended the Kyuubi at a younger age? What changes would come from it and what types of new powers would he develop? Read as a splendid ninja is born once again. Smart/Strong Naruto.
1. A Hero is Born

**Hey guys welcome to my first fanfic on here! ^.^ I've been reading on here for a little while now and just got the really "sudden" inspiration" so I decided it was finally time to make a story and at least get it started so without further adieu.**

**By the way I don't own Naruto.**

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"It's finished." The Fourth Hokage , Minato Namikaze, of Konoha gasped as the seal array appeared on his stomach.

"**I'm sorry it had to come down to this Minato." **Came the demonic voice of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

"Don't be," Minato said as he gave a strained smile, "I'm happy that my son will still have something that made his mother so powerful also protecting him." Minato said as he glanced down at his wife who had also looked like she'd seen better days.

"Kushina, now is the time to pass on our will to Naruto, I'm going to infuse some of our chakra into the seal so that we may see him again one day, but that may not be for a very long time, so we must do it now."

Said redhead began to tear up as she thought of all the memories that Naruto would have to miss out on being that they're time was rapidly running out. He would never have a father or a mother to love him like only they could, and Kushina never wanted Naruto to go through the same pain she had to being a Jinchuuriki herself until only minutes before.

"Naruto…," she began, "there's so much I wanted to show and teach you. I wanted you to grow up knowing what love is. I wanted to see you grow to become the strong man that I know one day you'll eventually become. I wanted to teach you about women and how to properly act during certain situations that may come about. Please, be safe, no drinking until you're 21, learn to eat your vegatables, because if you're anything like me you're going to want to have ramen all the time." Minato sweatdropped as he couldn't believe Kushina could actually implement a joke at a time like this, still he smiled as he saw her continue, "there's so so so much more I wanted to teach you. Minato, I'm sorry for taking up all of your time." Kushina weeped as her time grew closer.

"It's alright Kushina. Naruto… well, I agree with everything your mother said and I can't wait to meet you when you grow up, I know it will be a special sight, but I guess it's time to say goodbye for now. Take good care of him for us Kyuubi."

"**No problem Minato."** The kitsune said with conviction.

"Seal."

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Hiruzen Sarutobi was having the strings to his heart pulled as he watched two of the villages finest shinobi give their final words to their son. What was worse was that Minato erected a barrier that prevented he from doing anything but watching. It was then that a bright flash went through the clearing and when it was gone all that was left were two smiling parents and a now crying baby boy. Hiruzen walked over to the baby, picked him up and began trying his best to get him back to sleep.

"Report." He commanded to the nearby Anbu.

"There doesn't appear to be anything left here Sandaime-sama, all that's left here is…" an Anbu in a falcon mask trailed off as he glanced over at the two bodies.

"Seal them." The Third said bluntly. "Even in a time of this crisis we still have a village to get back to. Seal them and let's get back to Konoha." Hiruzen ordered as he turned away, not able to look at the sight any longer.

"Hai Sandaime-sama!" The Anbu said as he pulled out a scroll.

"As of today I believe you will be calling me Hokage-sama again. With this tragedy, I will be forced to re-take the position." The Third stated as he leaped off to Konoha.

"_Ugh, that means I have to run a council meeting on that and this…" _he thought as he stared down at what looked to be the complete reincarnate of Minato himself. Although, he also had three distinctive whiskers on each cheek.

"_Minato… forgive me if I am not able to fully watch over this child for you."_

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The council of Konoha was a system set up of both shinobis and civilians, with the shinobi side all being leaders of their respected clans. These ranged from: the Uchiha, the Hyuuga, the Inuzuka, the Aburame, and Akimichi, the Yamanaka, the Nara, the Sarutobi, and the Senju. Considering that the Hokage himself was a Sarutobi, and that the only remaining Senju alive has been gone from the village for several years, that left on the seven clan leaders on the shinobi side. The civilian council was made up of the Hokage's two trusted advisors and past teammate's Homura and Koharu, as well as another "trusted" friend Danzo Shimura. The rest of the council is made up of some of Konoha's wealthiest people and owners of much of the civilian market and land to balance out, they also have seven members(besides Danzo, Homura, and Koharu), for their side. Since Konoha was probably the highest in civilian count of all the five hidden villages, the First Hokage believed that it would be a good idea to have their own set of leaders to represent them.

"_I've never been one to question the First, but could he have been more wrong in that decision?"_ Hiruzen thought as he sat down in his chair.

"*sigh* This meeting will now commence. First off, I would like to make the motion for myself retaking the position of Hokage. Are there any here who oppose?" Hiruzen stated eying everyone in the process.

As expected nobody opposed to the motion except for Danzo, who was really more showing his dislike in the matter more than anything.

"_Stubborn."_ Was the main thought going through everyone'sheads besides Shikaku Nara who was thing more along the lines of 'troublesome.'

"Since the vote was outnumbered in a count of 17 to 1 we will now move on to the next moti-"

"Wish all due respect ,Hokage-sama," Danzo cut in, "but do you mind explaining why there is a child in a cradle next to you?" He questioned.

Ah yes, how could one not overlook that fact that a blonde-haired child now wrapped in a white towel was, currently, sleeping peacefully next to the aged Hokage.

"_Dammit," _Hiruzen thought, _" I was at least hoping to make an appeal for Naruto with the council before I had to explain his 'situation.'_

"Why that is precisely what I was going to continue on to before you interrupted me. Something, that I might add, was very crude of you." Said the reinstated Hokage.

Danzo seethed as he knew that Hiruzen was just trying to make the fool out of him before the council, but Danzo knew that he still had some power over Konoha, so he swallowed his pride.

"My most dearest apologies Hokage-sama. I assure you such insolence will not occur on my part again." Danzo stated like a true gentleman.

"_I could have almost found that believable" _The old Hokage chuckled to himself.

"Now, this child right here is Naruto." Everyone now stared at the sleeping child all wondering why they had the strange hunkering for a fishcake. "Naruto, in only his short few hours on this Earth, has already been born with a curse that will live with him for a lifetime." Now everyone, especially those of the shinobi side eyed the boy warily. What could the Hokage mean by that?

"Do not be afraid of him," Hiruzen stated as he saw the looks of all of those around him, "he is not a danger to anyone as he is right now, but there is something that you all have to know about him." The air in the room became thick with tension as everyone waited for what the Hokage would say.

"This boy… is the new container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

Silence. If a hair follicle were to fall to the ground it would've been heard from all of those around until…

"WHAT?!" The whole civilian side all immediately began to scream and question how this happened.

"SILENCE!" Hiruzen boomed in a commanding tone as his voice rang through the room. "I will now explain how this all occurred. To start off, Minato Namikaze is dead." Gasps from both sides of the room could be heard, especially from the shinobi side who had served under Minato and had been dear friends and comrades with him. Hiruzen didn't bother to mention the fact that Kushina was also dead, considering many never even knew of their relationship, only those of the shinobi side would even know that they did, and they would all find out in due time.

"Minato sacrificed his life for the Konoha by sealing the Kyuubi into this child. But, do not confuse him for the Kyuubi itself, just look at him." All turned their eyes to the boy who, despite what they just heard, still looked like a normal young baby boy, with the only difference being the distinctive whiskers.

"Still Hokage-sama I don't believe that he should be allowed to live, he may just end up causing more harm than good." Stated a pink-haired woman from the civilian side named Mebuki Haruno, she was also a little larger in her stomach area than the rest of her physique showed, a clear showing that she was on her way to having a child. Several other civilian members nodded their heads in agreement with her statement.

"What an excellent person to come forward for that statement," said the Hokage with a knowing grin, while Mebuki sweatdropped, "you look like you're going to be a new mother within the next few months. How would you feel if it was your child here on the spot while people whom they didn't even know got to decide their fate. You wouldn't be too happy about that now would you?" questioned the Hokage.

Mebuki cursed herself for being put in this situation. While what he was saying was very true she still couldn't let the fact that this child had **THAT** in him go.

"But, Hokage-sama is this not some orphan who had the Kyuubi put into him?" she questioned honestly. She really had no idea who the baby belonged to, while he did bear some resemblance to the Fourth… she wasn't even aware of the Fourth even having a child so that was out of the question.

Here was where Hiruzen had to come to a crossroad. Should he tell the council how this IS in fact the Fourth's legacy? Or for the child's safety should he just keep that a secret? In the end, he decided to go with the latter.

"Yes, the boy's name is Naruto Uzumaki. His parents were civilians who died in the destruction of the Kyuubi's attack."

A few sets of eyes of the shinobi side widened ever so slightly, which did not go unnoticed by Hiruzen. _"I guess I should've expected at least some of them to know Kushina. Especially since some of the shinobi were very close to Minato."_

One of them being Hiashi Hyuuga, who looked back at the child and was even more surprised by the resemblance between the two. It was almost as if Minato had shrunk down the size of a baby.

Tsume Inuzuka also discretely nodded her head. She was getting a very familiar smell off of the boy named Naruto. His scent was almost the same as his father's, definitely showing him to be of his father's kin.

Shibi Aburame was another who took account of Naruto being the Fourth's son considering the chakra emanating off the boy was the exact same as his father's, of this he was sure. His kikai bugs could completely assure that.

Shikaku Nara was another who took notice of the boy's heritage long before anyone else. By the time the Hokage was halfway through the door he could almost swear he saw Minato in the cradle beside him. He didn't go just based off of that assumption, but when he heard that Minato sacrificed his life sealing the Kyuubi into the boy there was no doubt about it in his mind.

The Hokage smiled inwardly knowing that the boy had people who knew of his true heritage without him having to say it outright to everybody.

"As my authority as Hokage i personally am protecting Naruto from being sentenced to death," he said as he glared at the civilian side and released a small amount of killing intent. Just enough to make them want to wet their pants. "As from this day forward I will also pass a law. Anyone who mentions the Naruto holding the Kyuubi inside of him to anyone who does not already know of it will be sentenced to death immediately. Now, I would like to call an adjourn to this meeting as I do have a village to rebuild does anyone oppose?"

Nobody in their right mind would dare oppose the Hokage as he was now, he knew he had the whole room in his hands and he was taking full advantage of it. Everyone was still too stunned by the pass of the law that they weren't even about to oppose him on this.

"Nobody? Great, then I will now call this meeting to a close." Hiruzen stated while picking Naruto up and leaving the room. Everyone soon followed after until there was only a single person still left in the room.

"_The only reason I wasn't so adamant about this is because I shall enjoy turning that boy into my puppet Hiruzen."_ Danzo thought with a wicked grin as he picked up his cane and began his trek back to his secret quarters aka his whole underground ROOT installation.

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"**Hmm. It seems as though this seal is pretty tight. It will probably be a few years before I will even begin to have any type of interaction with the boy." The Kyuubi said aloud as he surveyed his surroundings. "Hn. It matters not. I'll just await the day when I can keep my promise to Minato and Kushina. Though, I will be your best friend and worst nightmare in training you kit." The Kyuubi chuckled as he went into a deep slumber.**

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**DONE. That actually felt longer than I really expected it to be. But anyway, I hope to make my usual chapters longer than this and upload at least once a week if not sooner (I know they will be more frequent when the summer comes). I will be responding to reviews (I prefer constructive criticism over of flame please?) once they start to come up. Hopefully there will be a lot! :D No? Okay. Anyway peace everyone.**

**-A1**


	2. The Group

**I'm back! (Readers give death glare) *sigh*, yes I know it's been a while and the only real excuse I can give is writer's block and plot creation because I still hadn't fully decided where I want to go with this story. Anyway, on with Chapter Two.**

**I don't own Naruto. If I did, the war wouldn't be lasting for like 9000 chapters.**

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It was another regular day in Konoha. The shopping district was full with its usual customers, people were laughing and smiling, and the whole village had the same ambience of peace that it became known for. Of course, young Naruto Uzumaki never got to experience any of the happiness and joy as he was a pariah to all of Konoha. Although, his situation wasn't completely terrible. There was at least one Anbu watching over him twenty-four seven so he never had to worry about being physically harmed, but the tongue can be mighty powerful, especially to the mind of a four year old boy.

Naruto had been living with the Hokage for the first short years of his life, and as one would assume, Hiruzen kept the boy on a very short leash, and very sheltered. Naruto's only true interaction with any of the villagers are a few of the clan heads and their children who come to visit from time to time.

Over the years Naruto has met quite a few characters. First there's Kiba Inuzuka, the brash, loud-mouthed, self-proclaimed "leader" who always boasts about how manly he is, although he may be irritating at times, Kiba is generally the one that Naruto gets to joke around with the most.

Then there's the lazy Shikamaru Nara… there's not many ways to describe him as lazy…, although he is very intelligent for his age, as all Nara's tend to be. Unlike others, Naruto actually enjoys cloud-watching with Shikamaru, something that amazed everyone because Naruto was always rambunctious and full of energy. Since Naruto was living, and was under the tutelage of the Third Hokage he also became known be intelligent amongst his peers, although it still wasn't enough to rival a Nara, it was actually still very good.

Another addition to the group is Shino. The stoic, coat wearing, bug-boy who is a boy of very few words. Both Shino's and Naruto's problems derived from the same basic theory. Everyone always stayed clear from the both of them due to what they possessed in their bodies. Even though Shino didn't know directly what the villagers saw in Naruto, he, as well as the rest of the group, always noticed the stares and whispers that would generally come from walking with Naruto. Nonetheless, Naruto had never shown any hostility towards him for his bug situation, so he deemed Naruto to be someone he could call a good friend.

We come to the only female of this group: Hinata Hyuuga, Konoha's little Princess. Hinata was practically considered royalty in Konoha. Being that she was raised in a high society clan as the Hyuuga are, she always demonstrated the epitome of class, grace, and dignity that her status deems her to be. She was loved even more when people saw her always-blushed face and her minor stutter that was found to be very cute by the populace. Being that this was the first girl he'd ever had the chance to meet around is age, and being that she was very cute, they both ended up sporting large blushes upon making eye contact, before looking away of course. As time went on they were able to have full on conversations with little stuttering and rosy cheeks on Hinata's part.

The final member of the group happens to be Konoha's Junior Heir to the Uchiha clan: Sasuke Uchiha. Now, many are surprised at this, including Sarutobi himself, as he never thought that the "almighty" Uchiha clan would want anything to do with the young Jinchuuriki, especially since they were still the main people who had fingers pointed at them for the incident itself. Fugaku Uchiha, Sasuke's father, hadn't really cared when he heard of their bondage, he figured that having the Kyuubi wrapped around his finger could gain him some leverage on the council, although he'd never tell anyone that. But, everyone that are lucky enough to be clan heads are intelligent enough to know this is why he would be welcomed by the Uchiha for any reason.

The relationship between Naruto and Sasuke is a little rocky, whereas Sasuke is the more calm, cool go with the flow, Naruto is a little loud, and eager to be the center of attention, which can throw the young boys into a glaring match. Though, secretly they get along very well due to the presence of a certain Weasel masked ANBU: Itachi Uchiha.

Itachi, along with Kakashi Hatake, Yugao Uzuki, and Tenzo, is one amongst the few ANBU who watch over the ANBU due to their complete disgust with anyone who would dare mark the child as the Kyuubi itself. They were made the only four guards to watch Naruto after a recent incident.

**-FLASHBACK-**

It was a very festive night in Konoha as all the people gathered to celebrate one of Konoha's darkest days in history, the defeat of the Kyuubi at the hands of their beloved Yondaime Hokage: Minato Namikaze. On this very October 10 everyone was having a fun night enjoying themselves including Hiruzen Sarutobi who was looking over the village from the balcony of the Hokage tower while smoking on his famed pipe. It was then that Hiruzen got a very strange feeling that something had just gone wrong. That coupled with the fact that several specific words were now being chanted throughout the crowd.  
>"Demon!"<p>

"Get him! That's the one!"

"Tonight, we finish what the Yondaime started!"

A chorus of 'Hoorahs' went through the crowd at that specific thought.

'Naruto-kun…" thought the old Hokage before he disappeared in a shunshin.

- With Naruto-

Naruto was having a pretty decent night with all of his friends, enjoying all of the sights around him. The smells of freshly grilled foods, the laughing and cheer surrounding him, and the random firework that would light up the sky. His only complaint was that he had to wear a hoodie on a night that was a little humid, but if he meant he could have fun by his friends side then he would deal with it. As it was, he was too busy joking with Kiba to be preoccupied with these thoughts. All was well until a particularly drunk civilian bumped into Naruto, knocking the hood off his head.

"Wh-ops my bad *hiccup* sor-" he stopped when he realized who he was looking at. "Wait… Y-You're him! The Demon! Hey! He's here!" he screamed in panic.

The next few seconds were greeted by an eerie silence, followed by every single civilian in the vicinity focusing their attention to the now visible blonde-haired boy. The tension was thick in the air, but that all ended with one shout.

"DEMON!"

Everyone now rushed the young blonde boy in herds, however all of the clan heads warned their children beforehand not to stray too far away, which is why at that very moment, five blurs whizzed by the children and began to start knocking out all of the violent civilians. Whether it be a chop to the neck, a quick disabling Jyuuken strike, chakra drainage from bugs, or looking into a pair of Sharingan eyes, every method was used by the five clan heads to protect their children and their friends. Though the clan heads are respectfully the strongest in their clan, even they can't handle a whole mass of civilians with anti-Naruto Shinobi in them. A masked ANBU then appeared and threw a few shuriken flew past the clan heads that headed straight for Naruto and Sasuke, who jumped in front of Naruto after the initial assault, it was then that another person appeared in front of Sasuke and quickly caught all of the shuriken in their hands. This person was none other than Itachi Uchiha, the other son of Fugaku Uchiha and senior heir of the Uchiha Clan.

"I must admire your bravery Sasuke-kun, but please from here on let us deal with this." Itachi said as he turned to look at Sasuke, although he almost held his mouth agape as he looked into Sasuke's new blood red Sharingan eyes with one tomoe in each of them. 'So he reaches his potential when protecting those he cares about hm?' thought Itachi, 'I'm glad you found people you care about Sasuke, you may be the one to break the curse' Itachi thought with a smile as three other figures appeared next to him.

"Well Itachi, if you're finally done gawking we can get started," joked Kakashi as he appeared next to him, Yugao and Tenzo bit back a laugh as the usually-stoic Uchiha glared at Kakashi.

"Hn. Fine." They all then began to disable the populace before them.

Suddenly, a larger plume of smoke appeared amidst all the chaos,

"ENOUGH!" The now-thunderous voice of the Hokage boomed, "This has gone on long enough and I refuse to see this village fall so low as to attack children! Are you all mad?!" The villagers all began to look somber at the fact that they were being berated by their own Kage. "This type of foolishness needs to end, or we as a whole village will not be able to prosper even on days like these where our sole purpose is to celebrate, look at what you've all done."

It was true, if one looked around the area there were a few shops that were damaged due to the scuffle, or being hit by a stray kunai or shuriken, although the damage was fairly minimal and concentrated in that one area, the fact that it was caused by the villagers themselves and for such a idiotic reason stood to make the Hokage really question the future of the village after his time finally comes. Would the village be stuck with generations that hate the next Jinchuuriki and the one after that? He really hoped not. All of this came to mind as he said what came next.

"What part are all of you not understanding? You attack this young, harmless boy for something that he has inside of him, while he protects you all! What would happen if the Kyuubi wasn't contained in him? Would it not be free to attack this village at some other given point in time? Would you rather see him die so that the Kyuubi would manifest itself within a few years?" This stunned most of the populace, while it was true that they understood some of this, they were still blinded by their hatred of the Kyuubi. Whether it be due to the lost of loved ones, homes, or businesses destroyed in the destruction, they just couldn't see past that hate to see the real truth. Although, with Hiruzen now enlightening them again, some of the populace began to walk away, as they now had a lot to think about. Would they get over this and move on to a new day? Or, would they continue to hate just because they might be seen as a supporter by their peers? The strong had already come to their decision, while some of the civilians just decided to write it off, but there were still a portion of the villagers who resent the boy, even if they could see the truth in their Hokage's words. These were the ones who decided they would still try to make the boy miserable in any way they could that wasn't physically harming him, they didn't care, it was still a detriment to the boy so they were satisfied. Everyone either continued to celebrate, or began a trek towards their home, still in deep thought about the night's events.

"I hope all of you now see the dangers of being with Naruto." Stated Hiashi Hyuuga as he walked up to the kids, "this may not be a daily occurrence, but just being with Naruto will hurt all of your social statures in the eyes of the public as well as lower the respect that the public have for you. Are you all willing to give this up for Naruto?" The elder Hyuuga gave a long look into each of their eyes, looking for any doubt in their convictions, and to his gratification, there was none.

"Who Naruto? This is one of my best friends! I'll always have his back." Stated the young canine boy.

"Indeed. Naruto has never shown any prejudice towards me so I will not turn my back on him." Stated the coat wearing boy.

"It would be very troublesome at this point to sever the ties I have made with Naruto." Said the lazy boy.

"I-I couldn't be w-without N-Naruto-kun at this point." whispered the shy, lavender-eyed girl.

"Even though we have our bouts I can assure you that my life would be very different without Naruto in it." Stated the duck-butt hair Uchiha.

Naruto's heart swelled at the conviction at which his friends all stated this, he started to shed tears of joy as his smile was wide enough to light up the sky, he gave all of the guys a bro-hug, while Hinata got a particularly long hug from him, causing her to blush the shade of a tomato and promptly pass out, eliciting laughter from all of those around except Naruto who still didn't have a clue as to why that would continue to happen. Boy, if only Naruto knew.

"These will be rough days young ones, but rest assured that I, as the Hokage, will see more to these problems directly. No longer will these acts of violence go unnoticed by me. I am going to look into some more archives first, so I will let you all know when this becomes official." Sarutobi said towards the clan heads. A chorus of 'yes sir!' came from the group.

"Well, it's very late and I think all of you should be going now wouldn't you?" Hiruzen said to the kids. It was true, they were all still very young to be out at this time of night, even if it was where all eyes could see them.

"Yes, but guys," Sasuke said as he turned toward the group, "I want us all to meet at the park tomorrow at around nine alright?" said Sasuke seriously.

All of the kids furrowed their brows in confusion, but agreed nonetheless. What could Sasuke possibly have in store for them? I guess they'd just have to see tomorrow for themselves.

**-FLASHBACK END-**

"Who would've ever thought that Sasuke was going to try to start a training regimen for us?" asked Hinata, stutter free.

"I had no idea something like that was what he had in mind." Naruto said as they were both resting from the previous training session.

"Hey you two, are we gonna get back to training or what? I thought you had something to prove Naruto-kun?" said Itachi was he appeared next to them via shunshin.

"Sure sure, we were just taking a break is all. C'mon Hinata."

"Right Naruto-kun" replied Hinata, 'I wonder if you notice how much stronger you're getting from these training sessions Naruto-kun… I have no doubt that you'd be able to protect yourself, but…. I still want to be here to protect you.'

They both held on to Itachi and shunshinned to Training Ground 3 for another session.

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**Another Chapter done :D It only took around two months? *rubs back of head sheepishly* I'm actually going to start putting a lot more time into writing, especially since I've been cleared to work one less day a week. I should post sometime this week, hopefully, see you all soon! This is just another Introduction chapter. Some real action should be coming the chapter after next.**

**Oh, and REVIEW!**

**-A1**


	3. Spars and Fathers

**Eh, I didn't make as good a time as I probably should have. Anyway, this will be the final introduction chapter before my story gets into its full effect. Hopefully you've all stayed along for the ride.**

**I don't own Naruto, however I do own a 2014 Infiniti Q50.**

**Chapter 3 **

**Spars and Fathers.**

"Ugh, I knew he was good, but who would've know it would be THIS difficult?" whined Hinata, indeed Hinata, and the five other boys stood in a semi-circle around Itachi, all in their respective clans battle stances, and, in Naruto's case, a standard Goken stance. But, at this point in time only Sasuke, Naruto, and Kiba had the vigor to continue. Shikamaru had named it too troublesome approximately a minute into the spar, having a shuriken fly by and cut off a few of his hair follicles.

Shino found it rather illogical to continue as it would just wear him down from training further that day. So we now come to Hinata who flopped on her rear with a pout, thinking this shouldn't be as hard as it should be.

Meanwhile, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba were all heavily breathing as they continued to glare at their sensei's "impassiveness."

Somewhere in Iwa, a young blond hair, blue-eyed boy with mouths on his hands shuddered terribly, as he had a feeling that someone was mentioning something that would haunt his dreams later on in life.

"What's wrong Kiba, Sasuke-kun, and Naruto-kun? Giving up already?" Itachi said as he nonchalantly picked his finger nails, thing about how he would devour some pocky after this.

"Damn you!" Naruto said as he charged in from the front and tried a quick jab for Itachi's abdomen, only to be surprised when he was kneed in his own.

"I can't believe this! He's THIRTEEN! How could he be so far ahead of us?!" asked an enraged Kiba, he would like nothing more than to at least get ONE surprise hit on his sensei, but was finding it impossible as of yet. Not learning from his mistake, he also charged in front the front, and was rewarded with an elbow in his gut.

Sasuke, now seeing the last two people fighting with him writhing on the ground in pain, activated his one-tomoed Sharingan. 'I have to make this count. Even I know my reserves aren't very high.'

"Finally getting serious now are we, Sasuke?" Itachi said with a hint of mirth in his voice. "Well then, bring it." Itachi baited as he flexed his four fingers towards himself.

Sasuke tried a quick uppercut, to which Itachi blocked, he then grabbed Sasuke's collar and brought his face within inches of his face. Sasuke closed his eyes in preparation for whatever pain was sure to come, but was surprised when all he felt was two fingers press to his forehead hard and heard the words, "I got you Sasuke-chan," Sasuke's face immediately contorted in rage as he heard the loud laughter from all the boys(Shino gave a small chuckle), and even Hinata managed a few giggles.

After about a minute Sasuke's face was the color of his Sharingan while everyone else was holding their stomach while trying to regain the air in their lungs.

"HEY! IT WASN'T THAT FUNNY! LET'S GET BACK TO THE DAMN TRAINING!" yelled a fuming Sasuke, ready to rip Itachi's head off.

"N-No wa-way Sasu-Sasuke-CHAN!" said an out of breath Naruto as they all went into another fit of laughter.

At this point, even Itachi was clutching his stomach, and although it may seem as though he was too preoccupied to notice his surroundings, Sasuke learned that Itachi is a great multi-tasker as he tried a punch at Itachi's face, only to have Itachi swat it away and plant his foot on his younger brother's chest, slamming him to the ground, and effectively keeping him immobile long enough for him to finish his continuous laughter.

Now, Sasuke was seething with anger, here his brother was making a complete mockery out of him in front of all his closest friends, AND he even had the audacity to do so while laughing his head off. Rage wouldn't be enough to describe Sasuke's anger at the moment. The depth of hate he had for his brother at that moment was unfathomable, although after Sasuke thought about it, he realized his friendship in Naruto could actually benefit him in this situation. Sasuke promised henceforth from that day on, that no matter what he would do in life, he would prank Itachi so bad that the whole village would see it. The very name Itachi Uchiha would bring laughter to the people around and Itachi would be too ashamed to ever see the light of day again.

After finally having calmed down everyone's new demeanor changed to sweat-dropping as they all looked to Sasuke who was now chuckling darkly beneath the foot of Itachi, who in turn felt a shiver run down his spine as he felt that something was coming forth to shame him in the worst of ways. He set that aside, as he knew it was nothing to be worried about at all at this moment.

"Itachi." Called a deeper masculine voice, "If you're done with the playing around you call training, then come inside, I wish to have a word with you." From the point Fugaku first called him Itachi's face turned to stone, and he know had a very impassive look to his face that didn't go unnoticed by Fugaku. 'It's been like this for the past few months… he smiles, plays, and laughs with these mere children, but when I, his father, addresses him, he turns cold, and uncaring…' thought Fugaku '… I hope this still doesn't have anything to do with what I first told him we have planned now.'

**-Flashback Three Months Ago-**

Itachi walked through the Uchiha compound towards his house, tired from a long day in the ANBU, although it was worth it to come home and see his brother's smiling face every time he walked in. The thought put a smile on Itachi's face, and as he was walking, he decided to get something for his little brother.

Stopping by the 24/7 convenience store no too far from his house, Itachi went straight to the isle with the freezers and decided to get a popsicle with two sticks that split in half (The same ones that Jiraiya bought for Naruto when he was training to learn the Rasengan). Paying for the sweet snack and leaving Itachi made his way down the block to the largest house in the compound, a place that he was happy to call home.

Walking through the door and taking off his shinobi sandals Itachi was greeted with the smiling face of his mother. Although, Itachi noticed that the smile seemed to be strained.

"Good evening, oka-san." Itachi said warmly, even though he sensed a little bit of tension within his mother.

"Good evening Itachi-kun," she then glanced at the treat in his hand, "I didn't think the shinobi way was to be pigging out on such things," she stated with a hint of mirth.

"Don't be ridiculous," Itachi said as he snorted, "If anything I'm in need of these types of things more to keep me going," he said with a smirk. "Anyway, this was something I planned on sharing with Sasuke. I wouldn't want to be a little _piggy_." He said with emphasis on the piggy. He also gave his mother a slight annoyed look to drive his point home.

Mikoto giggled as she watched her older son's antics. It wasn't very often that they get to have these kinds of moments so she truly did enjoy savoring them as much as possible. But, she then remembered the upcoming situation, and sighed, things could be so simple. "Itachi," she said with her demeanor taking a more serious tone, which didn't go unnoticed by Itachi, "your father wants to speak to you about something important. I'll tell him you went to say goodnight to Sasuke, but after that you have to go speak with him."

Itachi nodded as he walked past her and up to Sasuke's room, all the while surmising that whatever had his mother on edge had to do with what his father was going to tell him later. But, he digressed. Sasuke was much more important than whatever clan business his father was going to drone on about. It's been like this more and more since he was becoming of an age where his status as the first son of the clan head was starting to become more prominent around the compound, so he had to act more "dignified," or, as Itachi liked to call it, "stick-up-the-ass no jutsu."

Itachi peeked into Sasuke's room, finding the boy with a content smile on his face and his breathing steady, clear signs of the boy's slumber. He decided to come back later, he could just see him before he went to sleep. Itachi headed back downstairs and into his father's office where he found his father in deep thought, though his posture showed that he was clearly waiting for Itachi's arrival.

"You wanted to speak with me Tou-san?" asked Itachi.

"Yes, it is a matter of the utmost importance. Something that will change the course of history of the Konoha forever." He said in an eerie voice.

"What is it?" Itachi queried with his ever-impassive face.

"Revolution. The complete and total conquering of the village. That includes every single man, woman, and child alike, ninja or civilian. We shall repaint these walls with the Uchiha clan symbol, and only we the Uchiha will now populate the village." Fugaku finished with a slightly sinister smile at the vision. He then continued, "Itachi, your mission as an ANBU captain and direct subordinate of the Hokage himself, is to find all of the information you can on the village's infrastructure. Anywhere that can lead to a swift and easy conquering, and cripple the village is to be reported to me. Failure is NOT an option on this mission, Itachi."

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**I'll just cut it off here xD. It's a little short, but I already have in mind what I have to write in the next chapter so I should, hopefully, be posting again VERY SOON. Til' next time guys.**

**-A1**


	4. Prequel to Training

**The amount of views on the last chapter really surprised me, it made me feel like I'm writing this story well, and what's not to like about that? Anyway, final chapter before all of my master plan comes into fruition so here we go:**

**Chapter 4**

**Prequel to Training**

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_Last time on "The Way Things Should Have Been,"_

"_Revolution. The complete and total conquering of the village. That includes every single man, woman, and child alike, ninja or civilian. We shall repaint these walls with the Uchiha clan symbol, and only we the Uchiha will now populate the village." Fugaku finished with a slightly sinister smile at the vision. He then continued, "Itachi, your mission as an ANBU captain and direct subordinate of the Hokage himself, is to find all of the information you can on the village's infrastructure. Anywhere that can lead to a swift and easy conquering, and cripple the village is to be reported to me. Failure is NOT an option on this mission, Itachi."_

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'That's what he said… I don't believe this…' thought a forlorn Itachi as he walked back up the stairs towards his own room. Upon arriving he was quite amused at the sight of a clearly tired Sasuke trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

"Eh? Oh, hey Ni-san." Sasuke said in a tired voice.

"Outoto(little brother), what are you doing up so late?"

"I wanted to greet you after your mission, but it got a little late and I fell asleep." It was at this point that Sasuke had finally taken a good look at Itachi and he immediately began to burst out laughing, tears spilling out of his eyes as he tried to regain his lost breath.

Meanwhile, a sweat-dropping Itachi could only imagine what had his little brother go from tired to laughing in nanoseconds. It was then that Sasuke regained his breath, "Ni-ni-ni-san," while still partially laughing, "Hav-having some BL-BLADDER ISSUES?!" He said while going into another fit of laughter.

'Bladder issues…?' thought a confused Itachi, almost as if the world was answering his question he felt a small wet patch on his pants near his pocket area, although when he looked down he could see that the trickle was streaming down his leg towards his groin, which obviously caused the commotion that was Sasuke in front of him.

'What the…' he gasped, 'THE POPSICLE!' he thought while frantically pulling it out of his pocket. Although it was packaged, it still managed to melt as it didn't have its proper refrigeration pressed up against Itachi's warm body. Itachi then presented it to Sasuke.

"Huh, it's funny how you decided to laugh at something I so needlessly went out of my way to get for you." Sasuke's eyes lit up a little at the sweet treat. He wasn't one who liked sweets much, but Itachi gave it to him, so he liked it regardless.

"Arigato Ni-san!" Sasuke said as he bit the slightly melted treat.

Itachi watched with a smile as Sasuke hummed happily between bites. His thoughts then went back to what his father said and his face fell a little bit. Sasuke took notice of this and decided to respond.

"Ni-san are you okay?" he inquired. Itachi still gave a blank stare into space as he didn't respond. Now Sasuke got a bit worried.

"N-Ni-san?" he said with a little tremor in his voice. This seemed to shock Itachi out of his stupor as he looked at Sasuke's troubled face. He knew he couldn't actually tell Sasuke what happened, and he WAS tired so he just decided he'd shoo Sasuke away and do just that.

"Sorry Sasuke I'm just a bit tired is all." Itachi said in a more tired voice.

"Oh, then I'll let you sleep then I guess." Sasuke said pushing what he saw to the back of his thoughts. He then got up to leave, but as he was just about to walk out he heard Itachi speak,

"Sasuke," said person turned around, "…you know that I'll always love you right?' Itachi said emotionally. Sasuke had a surprised expression on his face as he responded.

"Y-yeah, just as I'll always love you Itachi-nii." Satisfied with his response, Itachi nodded, then in a burst of speed he was in front of Sasuke, and he planted two fingers on Sasuke's forehead.

"Good. Now, go to sleep outoto." He said with a tiny push as Sasuke stumbled back and out of Itachi's room while Itachi slid his door shut.

'To preserve that love…' Itachi thought, 'I'll do whatever I can to stop this coup.'

**- Flashback End -**

**PRESENT TIME**

'I guess it doesn't matter anyway.' Thought Fugaku, 'When the time comes I'll need him to be a ruthless, emotionless killer. ANBU training does work its wonders.'

"Itachi what about our training?" asked Sasuke.

"Spar with each other and try to find the flaws in your taijutsu. Sasuke use your Sharingan to point out any weak spots in theirs while they try to find the faults in yours." Stated a calm Itachi.

"Bu-" Sasuke tried to say as he was interrupted,

"Just do it." Itachi said in a hard voice as he looked at his brother dead in the eye with his Sharingan blazing.

All of the kids shivered a little as they felt Itachi's fully matured Sharingan bore into their very souls.

"Fine." Sasuke said with a minor pout at his older brother's actions.

Itachi walked a little ways off with his father so that they could make sure that they weren't overheard.

"What is it you wish to speak with me about now?" queried Itachi

"The time for the plan draws near. Nearly every single Uchiha, both ninja and civilian, have been informed of the coup, with the exception of the children." Fugaku's stare hardened slightly, "With that being said, the option of telling Sasuke is being left up to you. I feel he would take the news better if it came from you."

"Would telling him even change anything?" asked an annoyed Itachi.

"That depends on what response you're expecting to get from him."

This actually took Itachi aback. He didn't expect his father to put ANOTHER weight on his shoulders.

"Anyway, the matter is very simple. I am not commanding you to do anything. The choice is: tell him, or don't. However, if you do tell be sure that he knows that none of his 'friends' are to know about this in any way, shape, or form." Said Fugaku with air quotes around 'friends.'

Itachi rubbed his eyes in frustration. He really needed the advice of another on this matter. Perhaps he'd talk to Shisui later and see how he feels about the situation.

"Itachi," Itachi looked up, "I do not wish to delve into your personal matters in the ANBU or whatever other duties that you deem important, but I'd like to ask you a question."

Itachi for his part just continued to stare impassively.

"Judging based in your attitude and cold demeanor to anyone besides those six children as of late, is it correct to assume that this coup is putting more stress on you than I would have believe it would have?" queried Fugaku.

Itachi sighed. "I just haven't been sleeping well as of late, father. Whether it has anything to do with the coup or not I could care less. I think I will be better off once this whole situation is dealt with and over."

Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Fugaku nodded to himself and began the trek back to their home in the Uchiha estate.

Itachi began the walk back to the children, while making a cross hand sign and summoning forth a Kage Bunshin.

"You know what to do."

The clone nodded and took off while the real Itachi broke the clearing back to where the children were sparring.

If Itachi had to determine who was the strongest of the group it was a close tie between Sasuke and Naruto. Where Sasuke had precision and fluidity, Naruto had overwhelming stamina and brute strength for a boy his age. Sarutobi had also been personally training him whenever he had the time so it was no surprise to Itachi that he would be able to compete with Sasuke.

Hinata, being that she was a Hyuuga and a receiver the Byakugan and Gentle Fist came in second because of her ability to dodge most of her opponent's blows with her flexibility.

Kiba came in third due to his clan's jutsu increasing his speed and strength; however, Kiba had a knack for having a short temper, and would begin to fight sloppily at the tiniest taunts towards him.

Itachi had tried to tell him to keep calm in these situations, but Kiba would get even angrier when fighting against Naruto or Sasuke because he knew they were just better than him at that point. He also would underestimate Hinata due to him being the "alpha male," and not being able to compete with him. This would lead to a swift ass-kicking at the hands of a half-fuming Hinata. Kiba had potential; he just needed to learn to have a clearer head.

Shino and Shikamaru come in last as both of their clans rely most on their jutsu and nothing else. Itachi noticed that they were both HIGHLY intelligent, easily exceeding their classmates in the IQ, however the strength, speed, and (in Shikamaru's case) drive to win weren't there. He'd been trying out different katas that would suit their style, but he was still narrowing them down at this point.

This was just measuring them by their taijutsu. If he went on into clan jutsu, elemental jutsu, and other aspects of them, it would remain the same with slight changes; however Itachi knew that anyone of his students could crush any student at the academy, with Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata being able to be the average Genin.

As a surprise "pop-quiz" Itachi liked to throw a kunai or shuriken at one of them in a situation like this to see if they were always paying attention to their surroundings. In each student's case they have all ended up being scratched or impaled by a kunai while yelling, muttering a curse, or sighing 'troublesome.'

This was one of those moments, Itachi decided, as he threw a backwards kunai directly at Kiba's behind, causing him to jump twenty feet in the air while shouting obscenities.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Outskirts of Konoha**

Elsewhere, a dog masked Anbu was doing guard duty around the perimeter of Konoha when he suddenly sneezed.

"Are you alright, Inu-san?" said a bear masked Anbu.

The Anbu in question simply nodded while thinking,

'Someone out there is copying one of MY techniques? That's MY job!' he thought angrily.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Back with Itachi and co.**

While everyone was laughing, Naruto shivered as it seems some of the pain Kiba felt was somehow passed to him, as if he could relate to the situation.

'I really hope that I'm just being paranoid.' He thought.

"OW! THAT HURT ITACHI-SENSEI!" yelled an enraged Kiba.

"Well, as a ninja in training you should know to never leave your guard down. You never know what might hit you and where it might." Itachi said with a smirk, eliciting a deeper glare from Kiba and a few more giggles from his companions.

"Well, now that we've had a share of laughs let's get something productive done today." Itachi said as he pulled out seven pieces of paper. He then handed one out to everyone as he kept the one left raised up for them all to see.

"These are chakra papers. They are made from a special wood, specifically for the purpose of determining what the chakra nature of a person is." He then pushed some chakra into the paper and it began to turn into ashes.

"If the paper turns to ashes, then you have a Fire affinity. If it splits you have a Wind affinity. If it crumbles you have an Earth affinity. If it gets damp you have a Water affinity. Lastly, if it scrunches up then you have a Lightning affinity." Finished Itachi.

"As you can see my affinity is Fire, a common trait for the Uchiha clan. It is also common for most Konoha nins considering we live in the fire country. That doesn't mean you can't have a different affinity. Where the origins of a person are just make it more likely for them to have that specific affinity." The children all looked fascinated at the prospect of learning what element they would be most likely to learn in their years as ninja.

"To see all you have to do is push a small amount of chakra into the paper." Stated Itachi.

As they all pushed their chakra in Itachi watched, casually noting each of their affinities. Sasuke's paper scrunched before turning to ashes.

'Lightning and Fire, eh? It seems his Lightning also exceeds his Fire affinity. That should be interesting.' Thought Itachi

He then looked as he saw Hinata's dampened paper in her hands.

'That makes sense. Flexibility is a natural trait of a water style user.'

He then looked in time to see both Shino and Shikamaru's papers float in the wind after they'd crumbled into dust.

'Earth affinities for both of them? At least I can train them in pairs.'

Kiba's scrunched up before also crumbling away.

'Another Lightning user? Interesting.'

He then looked lastly to Naruto's paper to see it cleanly sliced in half.

"Whoa," Itachi whistled, "a Wind affinity? Those are rare even to Sunakagure which has the largest population of Wind style users. You're very luck Naruto-kun." Naruto blushed slightly while rubbing the back of his head while the others, save for Shino and Shikamaru because they just accepted it, felt a little pang of jealousy. Itachi took notice of this as well.

"Not to say that any of your other affinities aren't great, it's just that Wind is rare to see, and is the most offensive of the five elements." Stated Itachi. That didn't seem to help as all of the kids, (save again for Shino and Shikamaru), all got rain clouds over them.

"OH YEAH! I knew I was awesome!" exclaimed a giddy Naruto.

"However, there are drawbacks to any good situation," Itachi said that made everyone focus on him again. "Each of the five elements all have a strength and weakness against another element. Wind beats Lightning, Lightning beats Earth, Earth beats Water, Water beats Fire, and Fire beats Wind respectively. So, just because Naruto may have a great advantage over Sasuke's Lightning jutsu, Sasuke's Fire jutsu can easily make Naruto's own Wind attack work against him."

"Erm… how does that work sensei?" said the ever-brilliant Naruto.

"Simple, it's like how one blows on a small, kindling flame to make it grow higher, into a stronger flame. Therefore, if you fire a Wind jutsu that does not overpower Sasuke's Fire jutsu, his jutsu will take yours and make his stronger. However, if your jutsu has enough power and speed behind it to overpower his Fire jutsu, then it will become stronger with the added flames."

The students stared awed thinking of the combinations that they could come up with to make destructive justus.

"Anyway, you all have to build up a substantial amount of chakra before you can even begin to think of doing most jutsu."

'Then again, Naruto is already a chakra powerhouse. Given a few years his chakra capacity will pass my own, and maybe even reach Hokage-sama's by the time he graduates from the Academy. If I can refine his chakra control this kid will be a freak of nature.'

"Well, it's getting late," Itachi said as he looked at its mid-descent, he usually let the kids go back at around five in the evening anyway. "We got a little sidetracked today, but tomorrow be ready because I WILL be merciless in this training. I wonder if you will all be able to even stand up by tomorrow evening." He said with a smirk.

All of the kids shuddered, the last time he said he was going to train them hard he wasn't kidding. That was what became of their daily spars where he nonchalantly kicked their asses to and fro across whatever training ground they were on. He even had the audacity to call that reflex training, and learning how to fight against a person whom they knew from the jump was stronger than them.

It was safe to say that they learned a lot about how to dodge, although as today's incident would prove, he has to train them harder on not letting their guard down. They may be kids, but they're all children of clan heads and a Jinchuuriki. They'd be the first ones to be targeted if a spy enter the village and try to collect information or secrets as ransom for their return.

Can it be excessive sometimes? Yes. Did Itachi care? Nope. He was doing what he thought was best, and if you try to question his motives you'll learn why he's called the "Prodigy of the Uchiha Clan."

He came back to reality from his thought as made five Kage Bunshin to escort all the children back to their homes safely.

Itachi then received the memories of his clone he sent to see Shisui and grimaced, oh how he didn't expect that.

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**That's another chapter done! I've sat at my computer desk and just wrote the last 2,000 words with no breaks. I really need to manage the time I write this better. *sigh*Next chapter will be the longest one I've had yet if the plan all works out right, and it might continue to have that word count, but you'll see when it comes out, eh?**

**Next chapter:**

**The Massacre?**


	5. The Massacre?

**Back. By the way, you all want to know what really sucks. Not having Internet. Especially when you're a high school student with good grades and working a job, that doesn't seem fair does it? Whatever, I did find things to do so I guess I should stop bitching about it.**

**Chapter 5**

**The Massacre?**

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_Last time on, "The Way Things Should Have Been,"_

_He came back to reality from his thought as made five Kage Bunshin to escort all the children back to their homes safely._

_Itachi then received the memories of his clone he sent to see Shisui and grimaced, oh how he didn't expect that._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**X- With Itachi and Sasuke) -X**

"Sasuke-kun, I trust you can make it back to the clan grounds safely?" asked Itachi abruptly.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but nonetheless nodded as Itachi took off into the trees. Sasuke shrugged it off; if it had something to do with him Itachi would've told him. With that in mind he walked back towards his home with another Itachi clone following him with some distance. Of course Itachi was going to make sure Sasuke got home safely. Making Sasuke believe he could do fine by himself was just added incentive to Sasuke's growing ego.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**(10 Minutes later outside Uchiha Clan grounds)**

"I take it we have to start putting our plan into motion." Itachi said as he landed next to Shisui Uchiha, who had a perturbed look on his face.

"We've talked about this for a long time, Itachi. As much as you and I would both like to keep things from getting out of hand we have to make the preemptive strike. If this coup gets started nothing you or I do will matter at that point." Shisui stated with a pained face.

"Still… Danzo… he has a lot of courage to come and demand that of us at this time. He should know as well as us that this is a dire situation."

**(FLASHBACK 30 Minutes)**

Itachi's clone had just met with Shisui for a little over a minute and they had both barely finished exchanging greetings between one another when another figure decided to make its presence known to the two Uchihas.

"You know something? You two are very hard to get a hold of Itachi," he said looking at Itachi, "and Shisui."

"What is it you want? You clearly aren't here to ask us to have dango and sake." Itachi said sarcastically, already irritated by the man's presence. He could never trust the old war hawk because he always had his own hidden agenda that no one was to know about. Itachi wasn't one to be revolved around people who he himself couldn't trust.

Danzo dropped his casual demeanor and began speaking again, "You two are the undercover agents for Konoha. YOU TWO know that the time granted to you by Hiruzen, myself, and the other two elders is dwindling at a fast pace. Time is ticking gentlemen, and even though Hiruzen can be seen as carefree man he will force his hand if necessary."

"You say this all as if it was some new information. We already know what has to be done and we already have a plan for what's coming. I don't think we have to sit here and have our loyalty questioned by you." Shisui said with a Sharingan-enhanced glare at the man.

Danzo let out a small chuckle as he turned around in preparation to leave, "At this point, it's not up to questioning your loyalty. It's now a matter of 'Can you get the job done?' And we shall see in time." Danzo finished as he disappeared in what looked to be a Wind shunshin that breezed by Itachi and Shisui's frowning faces.

**(FLASHBACK END)**

"Even I know Danzo has some sinister behavior that he keeps well hidden, but at the end of the day it's all for the sake of Konoha and to keep us above the rest of the Five Great Nations. If nothing else, I can at least respect him for that." Shisui said with a sigh.

Itachi still had his frown pronounced on his face, but now it was more at the fact that Shisui was right. Call the man crooked, evil, or downright maniacal, but everything he does is to make sure that his home is safe at night.

"In any case our plan of action cannot take place just yet. My father gave me the option of telling Sasuke of the coup." Itachi said as Shisui closed his eyes in thought.

"I say tell him." Itachi's eyes widened at the statement, "Hey, it's just my opinion, but Sasuke is a sharp kid. Give him a few years and he'll definitely be a force to be reckoned with. You wouldn't want something like this to completely blindside him like this. It's just as you were at a young age when you witnessed what war is and what it does to people. Sometimes we get hit with a disastrous situation at a young age, but in Sasuke's case you can be there to help him through this. I just think it would be your best intention."

Itachi carefully thought about what Shisui said, and he came to a decision. He just hoped it was the right one.

**AN: If this was longer it would be a nice place to end it xD**

**X- Later that night, Hokage Tower –X**

Contrary to popular opinion, Naruto had been living with the Sandaime Hokage for his whole life. Since Naruto wasn't widely accepted by the populace, Hiruzen took it upon himself to keep true to his self-proclaimed promise to Minato to keep his child safe. Of course, Hiruzen was only one person, and he expected Naruto to be independent and able to fend for himself as he walked down his path in life.

However, Hiruzen had done a lot in the boy's life to make sure that he would go down the right path as a ninja, although he didn't have to do very much. Naruto's heart was just as bright and radiant as the sun. He's truly his mother's reincarnation in his father's body.

But… that is also a problem in its own. The boy has a RUTHLESS knack for pranking. And Hiruzen would be damned if he wasn't better than his mother even at such a young age. In the beginning, after committing a prank Naruto would show up begrudgingly with an Anbu behind him to tell Hiruzen of his latest escapade with a nice chuckle to go along with it.

Naruto's worst prank to date would have to be when he took all of the talcum powder in EVERY store in the village and replaced it with itching powder. He even had the audacity to take Hiruzen's personal bottle of the powder and replace it with the concoction. Hiruzen shuddered as he still felt the phantom itches in places he should never have to deal with that problem.

On the contrary, it was very amusing for the shinobi staff to see their commander-and-chief lightly jittering and gritting his teeth every so often to mask the discomfort he was clearly feeling. Hurizen cursed Kami himself for ever teaching that boy the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. It was the perfect tool for him to be able to hit every single store in one night.

At the end of the day, news of the incident had spread around the whole village, and although it was pretty clear that all signs pointed to Naruto being behind the whole ordeal, the civilians had no idea who did this or why. Since there was no actual damage or injury to anything or anyone, they all decided to act as though it never happened. However, Hiruzen promised Naruto a lot of pain should he ever decide to physically prank Hiruzen like that again. Gotta love that secret taijutsu: One-Thousand Years of Death.

Currently, we have Naruto sitting idly by Hiruzen's desk, only a few minutes left until it was time for them to leave to the Sarutobi compound. Naruto was currently meditating, another thing that the Sandaime told him to practice because it helped focus the senses, it helped to feel one's chakra throughout their body and how well their control over it was, and it also kept Naruto level-headed compared to what he could be at his age. I mean, a boy at six years old being hated by practically an entire village? It's amazing he can still smile every day.

"Naruto-kun," Hiruzen started, "get your gear together we're heading home now."

"Alright jiji!" Naruto said in a bright voice. Naruto was happy that Itachi-sensei had found out their chakra natures. He really felt like his ninja career was starting to take off. Maybe he'd become a Genin sooner? Plus, he was still happy that he was compatible with his friends to form some combined elemental jutsu in combat. His eyes shined at the thought of a massive fire-tornado powered with electricity.

"Naruto-kun?" The old Sarutobi said to the agape-mouthed boy. "Do you plan on leaving sometime today?" he said with mirth in his voice as he watched the boy shake his head and come back to reality.

"Yea, yea whatever jiji." Naruto said getting over the thought before him and storing it away for later.

**X- 10 minutes later, Sarutobi Compound –X**

Sarutobi had made it to his quarters in his home, still debating over the latest conflict that was thrown upon his as a Hokage. Sarutobi had lived many, many years and he had made decisions that he would regret to his dying breath.

He himself always believed that no matter what the outcome was, he always made the best decision in the long run, yet he was starting to question his decision in making Danzo one of his "closest" and "most loyal" advisors. It seemed as though every time Hiruzen thought he was making a breakthrough in a situation, Danzo would come from left field and decide that what he thought would be more troubling and costing in the end.

Danzo's methods were deadly efficient, literally, and in the end the problem was cast away from Hiruzen and the next problem could be dealt with, however there are some situations where Hiruzen feels as though a more subtle approach can garner a better resolution.

The Uchiha coup is a prime example of a situation where Hiruzen would like less deadly efficiency and more of a long-term settlement where both sides can come to an agreement on the situation as a whole.

Those who personally know Hiruzen knows that he would be willing to bend over backwards in certain situations to allow peace to reign among his village. But, he's not to be taken as a fool. This is a man that fought and lead in two of the Great Ninja Wars. He was usually peaceful, but if his hand was forced he would have no problem rallying the troops.

Hiruzen was currently smoking on his pipe while rubbing his forehead in frustration, before finally coming to his decision.

"Naruto!" he said loud enough to be heard throughout the house, "Come here! I need to speak with you."

It was at this point Naruto had a little bit of hesitance in his step, as the old Hokage only took the suffix off of his name when he was in trouble or when the man had something serious to say to him. This was confirmed when he walked in and he could feel the tension in the air, as if the Hokage was testing the boy to see how he would react.

"Is everything alright, Jiji?" Naruto asked, trying his hardest to sound confident.

"Let be honest with you Naruto. Right now, there is one thing in the village that is almost as far from 'alright' as possible." The Hokage said bluntly, to which Naruto gasped.

"Well, if it's that big of a situation I guess I can't be told can I?"Naruto said with a slight pout, but then again if he wasn't supposed to be told, then why was he here?

Hiruzen chuckled lightly before speaking, "Under normal circumstances, yes, Naruto you would not be allowed to know such sensitive information. But, this is a situation that affects you in two ways. I don't think you're ready to be told the first reason yet, just know it's important." Naruto nodded.

Hiruzen sighed before speaking once again, "The second and probable more important reason for you at your age is because it involves one of your best friends, Sasuke Uchiha." Naruto frowned. What could Sasuke possibly do to the village that would have the old man bring him up in conversation with him directly?

"Naruto." Naruto snapped out of his thoughts, "Do you know what a Coup d'état is?" Hiruzen asked and Naruto stiffened. "Judging by your reaction I'm gonna assume that you do. Anyway, what I'm about to tell you is a high S-rank class secret and is to be treated as such." Hiruzen stated.

He didn't have to worry about putting up any silencing seals since the Fourth Hokage made a permanent silencing seal surrounding his office for situations just like the one he was in now.

"Naruto, what would you do if I told you that the Uchiha clan was planning a full-scale revolt on the village?" Hiruzen asked evenly.

Naruto drudged up every single thing he'd ever read on the Uchiha, from what he knew they of them they were a prideful type of people, with a tendency for superiority-complexes. The only Uchiha's he'd met that didn't have the proverbial "stick" up their asses were Itachi, Sasuke, and Shisui.

"I know they've had some qualms with the village, but I'd hope that it wouldn't get that far. But, I'm not horrifically surprised that they would try to pull a stunt like this. Their Sharingan and numbers definitely makes them a great threat to the village."

Hiruzen nodded at the young boy's synopsis. It was a true testament to how intelligent he truly was and how he wouldn't let common beliefs haze his judgment. Now it was time for the real knockout blow.

"You remember how I said this would affect Sasuke correct?" And again Naruto nodded while cringing slightly. "Well, he IS an Uchiha, therefore IF any rebellion begins then he will have in to be imprisoned, or in the worst case killed." The Sarutobi said with no remorse in his voice. He was laying everything on the table for Naruto to see. Of course, Shisui and Itachi could be something to withhold from him.

"What would you do if Sasuke decided to side with his clan and attack the village? Would you be able to stop him if need be? Or, would you show restraint and let him ruin a place that you proclaim nearly every day that you want to lead?"

All of this information was really starting to get to Naruto. Sure, he didn't like the jerk sometimes since he could be a bit of a show off, but that wasn't any reason to want to have him killed. But, given what Naruto had heard he didn't think that Sasuke had much of a choice. A six-year old boy trying to go against a clan full of elite jonins? That didn't seem to bode well for him at all.

"I.. I… I think… I would try to do everything to persuade the Uchiha to stand down, and maybe in a worst-case scenario I would eliminate the higher-ups of the Uchiha instead of eliminate them all as a whole." Finished a hesitant Naruto.

Hiruzen was truly seeing how much Naruto had take after the old Sarutobi. He was basically playing out what he was trying to do if you took out Itachi and Shisui. Although, not everything would go as smoothly as his plan sounds, but it might work out for the best in the end.

Naruto had a downtrodden look on his face as he thought about what the Sandaime had told him. The fact that the Uchiha were planning an uprise seemed so surreal to him, however that shows that there are leaps and bounds that a Hokage hoes through to make sure that his village stays safe.

But… somewhere in the back of his mind he didn't feel right. He felt sick. He was LITERALLY beginning to feel sick. The sensation came up on him so fast that he almost couldn't get anything out before passing out cold.

"Ji…ji.." Naruto said before hitting the deck face first.

"Naruto?!" the Hokage said darting up, "Naruto? Naruto?!"

**X- Uchiha Clan compound, Main House –X**

"Do you think you could do it? Could you weigh the Leaf and your friends against the Uchiha clan on a set of scales?" Itachi said in a serious tone. He had decided to have the conversation with Sasuke now seeing as his parents were both out of the house on clan business.

Sasuke pondered on this for a few minutes in very deep thought.

"…I couldn't imagine living my life without either one of them. I love the Clan, believe me, but US running the WHOLE VILLAGE? The reason I embrace the knucklehead and the others is because that's my separation from the clan. When I'm with them I am not 'Sasuke Uchiha, son of the clan head, Fugaku Uchiha, and younger brother of the Uchiha prodigy, Itachi Uchiha.' They see me for much more than that. They actually see me as a person whereas everyone else just sees me as someone that they'd want to be able to use when the situation benefits them." Sasuke said as his face went from disbelief to melancholic.

"But, I would never say 'The Uchiha can rot if it means that the safety of Konoha can be achieved.' So, I guess my best answer to give you would be, 'I would try my hardest to keep the Uchiha and Konoha together as one, rather than try to pick one over the other." Sasuke finished.

Itachi processed everything said and let a small smile show on his face. Even though his brother didn't directly say it, he knew very well that if anything were to happen to any one of those five kids, he would probably go absolutely berserk. The attachment to them is stronger than he probably even knows, especially if willing to go as far as to say that he couldn't live in a village without them there. It made Itachi proud to see his brothers valued his friendship in such a high regard. It's a very important thing to have people backing you up in any given situation, and it seems as though he dead set on keeping those people in his life by any means necessary.

"Well, Sasuke, you know what I've told you and you know very well that you can't even tell father some of what I've told you. If everything I have planned goes into fruition properly, then you won't have to worry about having one or the other. Just as you are, I would do anything to keep Konoha and the clan as a close knit unit." Itachi said with his smile ever in place.

Itachi then made his way out of the house, and to the woods behind his home where Shisui promptly appeared in a Shunshin.

"How'd the conversation go?" Shisui asked curiously.

"I couldn't have planned to go any better myself?" Itachi said with a small, serene smile on his face.

"Well, that good!" Shisui said beaming, "Okay. _Ready to go over some more plans_?" Shisui said using hand signs to deliver his message.

"_That's what we meet up for right?" _Itachi said with a small chuckle as they headed into the deeper forested areas.

**X- Sarutobi House, ? –X**

Naruto was walking through a dark hallway his head snapping towards every sound of water dripping towards the ground and faintly hearing the sound of breathing coming from somewhere inside the sewer-looking catacombs. He continued walking until he saw a faint lighting coming from one of the turns, and after turning he walked into what looked like a large foyer with a very large set of cage bars staring right back at him.

"**What is this?" **Said a deep, masculine voice from behind the bars causing Naruto to jump back and land flat on his rear end. **"The warden graces me with his presence?" **The figure said with mirth in his voice.

"I guess I really did seal this up tighter than even I thought was possible. Sorry, but I couldn't risk you breaking the seal accidentally right after being sealed into. You ARE revered as the strongest of the Nine bijuus after all." Said another masculine voice, however something about the voice… it was as if Naruto should recognize his voice from somewhere.

Naruto was picking himself up and gaping at the being that was SEVERAL stories high, but that wasn't even what made him do it the most. He was truly gaping at the blonde-haired man that was sitting atop the head of the being and having a casual conversation, as if though the man didn't even notice that towering being's presence.

"…..WHAT THE FUCK?!" Was the only phrase Naruto could even muster up at the sight of the man and the huge biguo? Bijo? BIJUU, yea that.

"Well, I would say watch your language, but I guess I was never there to properly teach it to you." The man said somberly.

Naruto's eyes widened as he was finally making all of the connections as to who this man was.

"Fa-Father?" Naruto said gob-smacked that the man sitting in front of him was his dad whom he'd never got to meet.

The man smiled before saying, "Hai, Naruto I'm your father." He said as the bars to the cage swung open, and he jumped down from the beast's head, "And, there behind me is the Kyuubi no Kitsune, also known as the King of all Bijuus, or Kurama."

"Kurama?" asked a confused Naruto.

"**That would be my name, kit."** The fox said as it stared at the boy with its large red eyes.

Now that his father had come down closer to eye level, Naruto could clearly see the resemblances between himself and the man. He was tall, had blonde hair and blue eyes, and wore the standard attire for Konoha jonin with a white, sleeveless jacket that with the kanji for 'Fourth Hokage' and with red-orange flames on the bottom.

"Umm… that wouldn't happen to say 'Fourth Hokage' on the back of your jacket would it?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

He laughed before speaking, "That would be none other than me, I am the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze." He said with a full beaming smile at what he thought would be a good reaction from his son.

"Ah. Well then. Allow me to offer this in reply." He then promptly fainted on the floor while the other two occupants just watched what happened with a sweatdrop. However, they shouldn't have been expecting much else from a boy who was an orphan and would probably only exist in his greatest dream.

"….well I guess I better get him before he drowns in two inches of water." Minato said exasperated.

"**Ironic that he passed out in the real world, only to pass out here."** Chimed the mirth-filled voice of the bijuu.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**FINALLY F**KIN DONE! I'm actually really pissed that I starting writing this chapter around the first week of May, and I couldn't finish first due to my fucking Internet going off. Then, my retarded desktop decides to shut off for three weeks straight for no apparent reason at all, and then suddenly turned on one random night. Wow. Like that was seriously one of the dumbest things I have ever personally been through. It was really upsetting trying to explain why I couldn't continue this chapter to some of my friends. Like, I get impeccable grades, and I work a job. Shouldn't I get a damn break here and there?**

**Anyway, Minato's here and has opened the gates to the Kyuubi's seal, Itachi and Sasuke had a long conversation that shall be exposed in the next chapter, and Sasuke and Naruto will have a VERY interesting chat in the next chapter.**

**Chapter 6**

**Father? Mother?**

**I've been up for the last 22 hours, I think I'll catch some Z's now.**

**-A1**


	6. Father? Mother?

**Back. Been playing a lot more GTA V Online lately. You'd be surprised how much fun you can have playing with friends that have mics even doing the dumbest of things. Summer may be spoiling/boring me a little too much. Anyway, here we go:**

_**Last time on: "The Way Things Should Have Been,"**_

_**He laughed before speaking, "That would be none other than me, and I am the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze." He said with a full beaming smile at what he thought would be a good reaction from his son.**_

"_**Ah. Well then. Allow me to offer this in reply." Naruto then promptly fainted on the floor while the other two occupants just watched what happened with a sweat drop. However, they shouldn't have been expecting much else from a boy who was an orphan and would probably only exist in his greatest dream. **_

"…_**.Well I guess I better get him before he drowns in two inches of water." Minato said exasperated.**_

"_**Ironic that he passed out in the real world, only to pass out here." Chimed the mirth-filled voice of the bijuu.**_

**Chapter 6 **

**Father? Mother?**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto had just reawakened after passing out… Twice? Anyway, he was still in his… "Inner dimension…" okay, this whole situation freaked him out. But, he was still in this in… THAT and he was still confused about all of what was going on around him. The towering figure known as Kurama just held his smug smirk on his face as he watched his confusion, and his father, Minato Namikaze, just looked down at him as he held him in his lap with a warm smile.

"Not that I'm not trying to enjoy this time as much as possible, but could you please tell me what's going on here?" Naruto asked slightly put off about the whole situation.

"That is precisely why you ARE here Naruto-kun." Said an angelic voice as a woman appeared out of what seemed like thin air.

Naruto gaped in awe at the woman before him. She was beautiful. She had a slender, but feminine build, fair skin, violet eyes, and fiery red hair with strands that framed both sides of her face and a black clip that parts her hair to the left, keeping it out of her eyes. She wore an outfit consisting of a high-collared, sleeveless blouse under a long, loose-fitting dress. The blouse was white while the dress was green. She also wore a wristband that was black on her left wrist and lavender shinobi sandals.

"Well Naruto?" She said in a sweet voice, "Can you guess who I am?"

"M-Mo-Mother…?" Naruto said with his eyes wide.

She giggled at his reaction, "Hai, Naruto I-" She didn't finish get to finish as her whole midsection was crushed in a bear hug by sobbing Naruto, whom she hugged back and rubbed circles in his back to soothe him. Minato smiled brightly as he joined in on the family reunion.

'**This is the way things should have been… Damn that blasted Uchiha who screwed up what would've been such a happy family.' **The demon fox thought angrily as he watched the family share its first moments after six years of their son's life. **'But, I think it's safe to say that the kit and I will rectify that.' **

"**Kushina, Minato as much as I wouldn't want to interrupt your happy reunion, we've already wasted too much time and I know the chakra you stored in here is running out." **The bijuu said voicing his thoughts.

"Unfortunately he's right Naruto, we don't have that much time left and there are still some important things that we have to tell you." Minato said as his demeanor changed from cheerful to serious in an instant.

"For starters, this behemoth behind me," he said pointing towards Kurama, "is the Kyuubi; yes THE KYUUBI, the same one that largely damaged our village six years ago. Contrary to popular belief, Kurama here was not 'a random act of nature' nor did he 'go after Konoha purposely.' He was forced to attack Konoha under the genjutsu of an Uchiha who has yet to be identified, but at the time claimed he was 'Madara Uchiha.' Minato said as the Kyuubi growled at the last part of the explanation.

"What your father is trying to say, Naruto, is that there is no reason to fear Kurama whatsoever. He and I had our bouts at first, but he came to respect me for being a very powerful kunoichi and overcoming the strong beliefs that I wouldn't succeed in my career as a shinobi. In a way, you could say that he liked my 'never give up' spirit, right Kurama-kun?" Kushina said with a giggle as the fox turned its head away from her, he was never one for honorifics that weren't meant for respect.

"**Bah. Your mother was also one who liked to drone on a lot. Oh, all of the collected memories that I have of her fawning over Minato after he rescued her from the Kumo shinobi, not to mention all of the frequent masterba-"**

"OI! SHUT UP BAKA-KITSUNE! THERE ARE CHILDREN HERE!" Kushina yelled at the overgrown fox, sporting a large blush on her face. The fox for the most part just cackled at her embarrassment while Naruto and Minato just sweatdropped at the whole scene.

'Master… wha?'

'I guess it's not too surprising that she did that while thinking about me.'

"WAIT. So everything I've ever thought about he knows!" Naruto said pointing at Kurama.

"**Everything down to the last detail. You'd be surprised how much you remember when you have practically nothing else to all day but that and sleep." **Kurama said with a smirk.

"Perfect." Naruto said as he face-palmed. "Just perfect."

"ANYWAY, we've really gotten off track. The point being is that person who made me seal Kurama inside of you is definitely going to be coming after you himself or in the form of using others to get you. Naruto, this man is dangerously powerful. Powerful enough to have complete control over Kurama and to outmaneuver me at almost every junction. He thinks and plots very well and his space-time ninjutsu surpassed even my own Hiraishin. There isn't much I can actually do for you, but that's what Kurama is here for. He's going to be your main sensei in training you on some of the moves that your mother and I have used."

"During my time as Hokage I built a large mansion myself that was centered mainly on the use of fuinjutsu. The only three people in the world who the gates will respond to are you, the Sandaime Hokage, and Jiraiya, my sensei and your godfather who I am truly sorrowed to see you haven't met yet. I'm fairly sure he has to know you are still alive. There's no way somebody like him would have had information like that withheld from him. Anyway, inside of the mansion grounds are a set of training grounds, obviously a mansion with over 10 bedrooms excluding the master bedroom, seven bathrooms, three storage rooms, and two kitchens." Minato finished.

Naruto eyes lit up in excitement and anxiety to see what the place looked like, it sounds much larger than the house jiji had.

"However, I made many enemies during the duration of my life and I'd strongly advise you not to make your actual legacy known to the public until you are fully ready to protect yourself and any of your loved ones. I'd also advise you be very discreet when visiting the Namikaze grounds as they haven't been used in over six years and it would attract a lot of attention if you were to blatantly enter them where anybody could see. Someone like that Itachi fellow would be good for entering as he is great at wide scale, powerful genjutsu. I can also sense that he has a pure soul and you can personally tell him that I said that." Minato said with a smirk.

"There are many scrolls on ninjutsu, taijutsu, and fuinjutsu that I have collected and created over the years. I hope these will be of good use to you as I can see you have a lot of natural talent and leadership qualities like myself, however you still have your mother's brash personality."

"HEY. That isn't a bad thing ya know? Not everyone can be Kage level material!" Kushina said as she raised her fist to bring pain upon Minato.

"W-Wait! It wasn't meant as a bad thing! I'm glad that our son embraced traits from both of us alike!" Minato said frantically.

"So why does it seem like he only 'embraced' good qualities from you, and none from me?" she asked sweetly while the others in the room all saw a dark aura appear behind her.

'**I swear to Kami it's like watching the kit bicker with one of his friends.' **

"**HELLO! IMPORTANT MATTERS THAT STILL NEED TO BE DISCUSSED, BEOFORE YOU GUYS YOU KNOW, DISAPPEAR INTO THIN AIR?!" **the annoyed fox boomed out.

They both frowned at the way he had to put it, but yes time was of the essence and they didn't seem to be grasping that concept very well. It was at that very moment that they had both began to actually fade and a yellowish-white light was slowing starting to glow around them.

"Okay to summarize, get Itachi and enter the compound, obtain and use anything you see fit to use and work on it, Kurama has seen some of my techniques, and were he can't help I'm sure your godfather can improve upon once you meet him. Make sure you have a lot of allies in your coming battles with the world as I can tell that they won't be easy ones. And above all," he wrapped his arms around his son, "please, do be safe. I don't want to see you here any sooner than you have to. Ironic, this time I went first eh Kushina?"

She giggled before starting, "Naruto-kun please be safe like your father said, become a shinobi that we would've been proud of, and keep your heart open for anyone who'd wish to be a part of it. You'd be surprised at who around you likes you better than you think." She finished with a wink.

"Uh..." Minato started as the last of their chakra was almost up, "Isn't there ONE last thing you want to tell him?"

"OH YES!" Time then seemed to slow down as Naruto read the lips of what his mother said and both he and Kurama's eyes went to the size of saucers at the statement she just made. They then both wrapped their arms around Naruto before vanishing into thin air.

"W-Wh-What..? B-But is that possible?" Naruto said looking towards Kurama.

Kurama, for his part, just shook his head vehemently, **"Don't look at me, I had no idea of this either. However, it does make some sort of sense seeing as where you all derive from. Bunch of freaks with incredibly strong chakra."**

A wide grin then split Naruto's face as he sought to make her final words true no matter what.

"**Anyway, it's morning in your real world I believe you've been here long enough anyway so I'll speak with you again later when you have the time."**

Naruto then felt light-headed and felt a push against his mind as he was forcefully put back into the real world.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**X- Sarutobi Compound, Naruto's Room, 10:42 A.M. –X**

Naruto awoke with a yawn as he took in his surroundings. "Wow, was that all just some elaborate dream?"

"**You know I had a feeling you'd come up with a dumb notion such as that."**

Naruto immediately flipped up at the sound of the voice, "Who's there?!" he said ready to retaliate.

"**It's just me kit, calm down. And you don't have to speak out loud. Just think what you want to say to me and I'll hear it."** The fox said grumpily.

'Wait... that was real? The whole thing?' Naruto thought confused.

"**Yes, yes, the whole thing was real. Everything you experienced all happened. You now know that your father is Minato Namikaze and your mother was Kushina Uzumaki. Isn't this what you always wanted?"**

'Which means… my mother..."

"**Precisely."** Kurama said finishing his thought for him.

This brought another bright smile to Naruto's face as he set out to do his morning duties. Jiji's office opened at seven so he wasn't there to speak with him, however he was going to go there and give him a piece of his mind.

Brushing his teeth, and putting his clothes on (It's really terrible that I never put a description of what Naruto wears; I mean he's living with Hiruzen. I would never let him wear that orange atrocity.) Consisting of a blue shirt with the red swirl, Uzumaki clan symbol emblazoned on the front and back, black shinobi pants, and sandals. He also wore a necklace containing six magatama beads that was given to him by Hiruzen on his sixth birthday.

Stepping outside the compound he walked through the streets and received the usual light glares and whispering, but there were also the people who would wave and give him a small smile as they could see that the boy had never calmed any huge harm and he was seen as practically a grandson to the Sandaime, who would never let any threat to his village roam around freely.

Getting to the Hokage tower he bypassed all the ANBU guards and the secretary. Naruto was a regular in the Hokage's office and nobody would dare stop him unless an important meeting was going on.

As he walked through the large wooden door he was greeted with the annoyed face of the old Hokage doing the ban of all Kage's existence: paperwork.

"Hey there jiji!" Naruto tried to say as cheerfully as possible as to not rouse any suspicion about what happened to him.

"Ah, Naruto-kun how are you? I was very worried about you after what happened last night. I feel as though the situation might've made you a little more stressed than I'd realized." The old Kage said with a frown.

Naruto simply waved it off. "Yes, it was a lot to take in at the time, but I'm fine now. Better than _ever,_ in fact." Naruto said mischievously.

Hiruzen wasn't old and a Hokage for no reason. Being as old as he was and being so heavily involved in politics he knew specific voice patterns in speech, as well as what the tone being used usually implied. The tone Naruto had just used made it sound like he had just discovered something incredible. Oh, he didn't know how right he was…

"And why would that be Naruto-kun?"

Naruto paused for a minute before responding, "Jiji, would it be alright if you sent your ANBU out for a few seconds?" Naruto asked calmly.

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at this. Naruto had never asked him to do such a thing before and if he felt he needed to do so now then it was probably important.

"Alright Naruto-kun." The Hokage said as he waved his hand and four simultaneous nods later, all of the ANBU were gone.

"Uh… Jiji? That wasn't all of them." Naruto said a little sadly as he could... feel? Yeah, he could FEEL another presence in the room besides the two of them.

"What did you say?"

"Yeah, there's somebody right… there behind that bookcase." Naruto said like it was saying the sky was blue.

Immediately the four ANBU came back in and restrained the figure hiding behind the bookcase. The figure was wearing a white, porcelain mask with nothing but slits for the eyes and the standard ANBU gear.

'Root…' thought Hiruzen.

"Take him to Anko and Ibiki." The ANBU saluted before taking the offender away. (That little scene was taken from Legacy by cr4zypt, great story if you love God-Naruto.)

'Wait, what was that?' Naruto thought to himself.

"**That would be a gift from me, kit. Since Minato opened the seal up to give you access to me, I gave you the power to sense negative emotions, and you just put its effectiveness to good use, great work." **The bijuu said proudly.

"Huh. Guess I'm better than I even thought I was." Naruto said smugly.

"**And… you're an idiot again."**

'Shut up baka-kitsune.'

"Indeed you are Naruto-kun, and not that I'm not happy to see it, but when did you pick up sensing abilities?" The old Hokage asked honestly.

"Would you mind putting up a sound barrier as well?" Naruto asked simply.

"Okay…." Hiruzen said while going through the hand seals. A large light went throughout the room signifying the seal's use was in effect.

"So Jiji, did you actually know who my parents were?" Naruto asked with a pout.

Oh, not this conversation again. It really did break Hiruzen's heart to hear Naruto ask him this with that look on his face. Still, even he knew it was far too soon for the boy to know his true heritage.

"No, Naruto-kun I'm sorry, but your parents were brave heroes who died during the Kyuubi attack and their bodies were never discovered, and being that your birth was on the day of the attack the medial records were destroyed as well."

"Hmm… I always DID find that ironic. The fact that I was born on the same day that it just happened to attack. Well, no matter, but what about the Uzumaki? Did they have any sort of clan? Could there be any relatives of mine that could possibly out there wondering if their nephew, cousin or grandchild is out there?"

"I'm afraid not, Naruto. I gave you your name right after I found you in some wreckage after the damage had been done." Hiruzen answered smoothly.

"That also bothers me. Why is it that I live with you? The Hokage, while I have no ties to you or anybody in your family whatsoever? I'm sure there had to be more than one orphan made on that night due to all of the casualties. So why is it that I was just 'the lucky one' to get to live with you? It almost seems as though you had some kind of promise to keep with me." Naruto said questioning and answering his own questions.

"Uh…. Wel-"

"Never mind, no need to worry about it." Naruto said as he walked over to the portraits of the four Hokages and stopped under the one that depicted the fourth Hokage.

"Minato Namikaze. Hmm…. This man looks VERY familiar…"

Hiruzen had finally pieced together what Naruto had wanted to talk about; somehow Naruto had found out that Minato was his father. There wasn't any other reason for him to call this "secret meeting" with him.

The old man sighed before speaking, "How did you find out?" he asked sadly. He'd really wanted to be the one to tell him, but it seems as though it wasn't meant to be now.

"It would have been nice to hear it from your voice, but I think passing out and getting to visit my father for the first and only time in my life was an experience that I'll treasure forever."

Wait... What? Met his father? Minato? But… what?

"W-What do you mean you 'met' him?" The Hokage asked nervously, thinking the boy had officially lost his mind. Minato had been dead for over six years. There's no way he rose from the dead to meet his only son, for him to just crawl back into his grave again.

"It's actually not a very complex thing to think about. Before he died my father put some of his and my mother's chakra into the seal for Kurama, he se-"

"Kurama?" he asked as he interrupted the young boy.

"Ah, yes Kurama is the true name of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and he trusted me with his name so I expect you to do the same." Naruto said sagely.

"Anyway, he set up the seal so that the first time I ever entered the seal's pocket dimension I would meet him and my mother. Even though he died out there on the battlefield, he made sure that he'd left me with something enough to be strong and to remember him by." Naruto finished with a beaming smile.

'That Minato…' thought the Third, 'He truly never did anything for no reason at all. Everything he's done up to his death had a purpose that he knew would later come to fruition.' The old Kage thought with a sincere smile at his successor's aftermath.

"Judging by the way you address Kurama, I would assume that he's not the evil being we have come to think of him as?" He asked warily.

Naruto's demeanor immediately changed as he remembered the words that his father told him.

"You'd indeed be correct. Dad told me that there was an Uchiha who went by the name of Madara Uchiha, who then used his Sharingan to control Kurama and force him to attack the village. My father was fighting him head on while you and the other shinobi of the village were trying your best to restrain him."

'So that explains why it took Minato so long to assist us. That man must be powerful to be able to go up against Minato and walk away alive.'

"Did your father give any description on him?" the Sarutobi inquired.

Naruto shook his head slowly, "He said the man was wearing a mask and was covered head to toe in a robe that concealed his presence, only the Byakugan would've been able to identify who the mysterious assailant was."

"Well, Naruto-kun I'm happy you decided to share this information with me. I am sorry that I didn't tell you of your true heritage, but you have to understand that I didn't do it because you shouldn't know, it was for your protection." The Hokage said sincerely.

"I know jiji," Naruto said as he was walking towards the exit. "My father told me the same thing." He said with a small smile as he exited the room.

'I wonder… can he possibly know about… no. It's better if I don't even think about it.' Hiruzen thought as he shook his head, and began to continue going through the never-ending piles of paperwork on his desk.

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**X- Streets of Konoha, 11:24 AM –X**

Naruto had just left the Hokage tower and was now heading towards the Uchiha Clan compound, there weren't a lot of outsiders that visited there, but he was seen as somewhat of a friend to the Uchiha so his presence never bothered most of them.

"**Wow kit. I'm surprised you didn't ask him about THAT."** Said the bijuu in his mind.

Naruto inwardly shook his head, 'No way, even if the old man does know he wouldn't be willing to budge an inch on that topic. He'd probably just disregard it as ludicrous.'

"**You do have a point there." **

'Trust me, I want to know even more than you do, but even I know that there's careful timing and planning that goes into everything, and now definitely is not the best time for this.'

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**X- Uchiha Compound, Leader Fugaku's House, 11:32 –X**

Naruto had arrived at Sasuke's house and had rung the doorbell. After about twenty seconds the smiling face of Mikoto Uchiha answered the door.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun!" Mikoto said cheerfully, this was the only person who actually ever visited their home besides clan members.

"Good morning, Mikoto-san! Ano, is Itachi-sensei here right now?" He asked somewhat anxiously.

"Hai, he just got back from an overnight mission early this morning, but I'll see if he's awake."

"Thanks Mikoto-san." She smiled at him as she went to go see if her eldest son was awake."

"Yo, Naruto." Said Sasuke as he made appearance known while slipping on his sandals. "Itachi will probably come so we should get in some training right?"

"Uh… that would be fine and all, but I have to speak with Itachi on some private matters. It's not that you won't know eventually, but Itachi is a key point I need in proceeding from here on." Naruto said as he explained why Sasuke wasn't allowed to know.

Sasuke frowned before nodding, everyone has their secrets, hell, Sasuke knew his clan hid MANY things from the denizens of Konoha so it could be expected that his friends have some too.

"But why Itachi?" He asked honestly.

"He's the guy for the job. I'd tell you who recommended him, but you wouldn't believe me."

"Try me."

"How about the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze?"

"…okay yeah, you're just bullshitting me."

Naruto shrugged, "Suit yourself."

"Well aren't you two having an interesting conversation." Itachi said from the same step Sasuke was putting on his sandals, doing the exact same thing.

"Itachi." Naruto said seriously, getting Itachi to look up at him. "I need to speak with you privately." Naruto said with steel eyes, showing that it was no joking matter.

"So I've heard. Sasuke, when Naruto and I are done with our little chat I'll come back to get you, until then you can either go off and train by yourself or do something else to bide your time."

"I think I'll go get the others. Its better training the more people we have. Especially against Shino and Shikamaru, their tactical thinking in battle can be somewhat hard to overcome." Sasuke said as he began to set off do just what he said.

"Alright Naruto-kun, you've got my attention, where to?" Itachi asked.

"Let's head back to the Sandaime's house. I'll explain why when we get there."

Itachi then grabbed Naruto and shunshinned to the Sarutobi compound before he could say anything else.

"Okay, you have to teach me that. Way too convenient to pass up."

"So what was it you needed to explain to me about here?" Itachi questioned

"Oh, the old man has a sealing matrix in his office that prevents anything from escaping the room. It's the best place to discuss matters such as this."

Itachi kept his stoic façade outwardly, but in his mind he was wondering what could be so important that he had to seek him out personally for it. He also noticed how Naruto was clearly making it evident that it was important.

"Lead the way then."

They walked in Hiruzen's home and entered upon his office where Naruto sat on the man's desk while Itachi leaned up against a wall.

"So what's up Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sighed; he was really getting tired of repeating this story. "What do you know of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze?" Naruto asked seriously.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Another chapter done? Wow it has only been four days, *pats self on back*, not bad buddy not bad at all. Anyway, I changed the plans, Naruto and Sasuke will have a chat in the NEXT chapter, hopefully. Well, unless I change things again *shrug* since I have a vivid imagination things tend to just kinda pop into my mind randomly. Although, sometimes it's a good idea so I just roll with it.**

**Next: Chapter 7**

**We're only six?!**


	7. Countdown Part 1

**I AM BACKKKK!** **I figured I'd come back with a happier tone considering that the A/N was a little too somber for my tastes, lol. Anyway I am still deeply sorry to all those who may have waited for an update to my story, as I sought to commit to actually having this story become greatness, and greatness doesn't come by doing absolutely nothing to it. Had to make a quick name change on the chapter after I had written it, the new title fits better lol.**

**Chapter 7**

**Countdown Part 1**

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Later on that night, the same day that Naruto had decided to share the news of his heritage with Itachi, we find our young hero casually leaning up against a wall, while Itachi covertly scoped out the area for any wandering eyes. However, Itachi was still rubbing his jaw after having it open so wide in pure shock that he almost felt as though he dislocated it.

After giving Naruto the all clear, Naruto proceed to approach the large wooden gates, where he bit his thumb to draw blood, and smeared it a cross a small black square that flashed a golden hue for a moment, before going back to its dark color.

Itachi jumped down to join Naruto just as the gates began to swing open and the full beauty of the gorgeous manor came into view. Minato was not kidding about the breathtaking sight that they had before them, they both thought as the gates automatically swung closed behind them. The entire manor was huge and nearly every square inch was covered by elegant fauna ranging from all kinds of different colored lilies, ivies, and roses, with the Pièce de résistance being the huge fountain in front of the house depicting an angel with a harp spewing water out of its mouth.

As per usual, the lights that littered on and around the fountain all began to turn on one by one, adding even more beauty to the already awestruck persons watching it. Both Itachi and Naruto stood mouth agape, at what looked to be one of the most elegant looking houses they'd ever come across in their life.

'This place may be nowhere near the size of the Uchiha clan's compound… but it sure has us beat in term of grace and nobility… I guess this should be expected considering he WAS a Hokage.'

'This whole place is… MINE? I get to take ownership of this one day…? Kami, if this is some kind of dream I NEVER want it to end' thought a still-awed Naruto.

"Well, this is just the outside, I have a feeling the real surprises will make themselves known to us once we get inside the house." Itachi stated as he began to advance upon the mansion.

"Y-Yeah." Naruto said as he got the gears in his head cranking again.

Everything the manor had was identical to what Minato had stated. There was a total of 11 bedrooms with one of them being the Master bedroom, and all of the others having a regular furnishing of tasteful décor. Although, Naruto almost broke down in tears as he came across a room that would've been his own had things gone the way they were supposed to.

The walls were painted a nice baby blue, there were toys strewn here and there of all shapes, sizes, and animals alike. There was a crib in the room with a large stuffed frog in it that had a goofy smile on its face, and it made Naruto smile. All the while Itachi was watching Naruto with a small smile on his face as he watched Naruto test all of his toys in amusement.

'Even if he's already chosen his path in becoming a ninja, he's still a six-year old child, and this is the first time he's truly coming into contact with everything that he was supposed to have from his day of birth…'Itachi thought sadly, as he could only imagine what Naruto was feeling right now.

"Alright, I'm ready to move on, we still have more important things to do that look at what could've been." Naruto said with a forlorn last-look at the room.

Itachi nodded as he exited the room and they moved down to the Master bedroom. On peculiar thing that they saw about the house, was that every single room looked as though it had been used recently, or as though it hadn't even been six years since somebody was last in the house, but that was something to note and save for later.

Entering the Master bedroom, they saw that it was definitely the room that looked like it was used the most. There were still clothes set on the bed, sandals that looked like they were kicked of the user's feet onto the floor, and an errant ramen cup that was on the nightstand next to the King-sized bed. Naruto chuckled as most of the time he would do the exact same thing in his room.

Naruto's eyes immediately caught sight of a book on the other nightstand to the right of the bed that was a dark brown leather, and title in shiny-gold lettering, "Namikaze family." The scrapbook was enormous. Easily five times the size of the orange book that he would catch Jiji reading from time to time. The first few pages were filled with pictures of Minato and Kushina in various different settings. There were pictures of them in the park, Minato pushing Kushina on a swing, both of them laughing and smiling as they looked to be celebrating Kushina's birthday. Until, he came across the final picture of the book which was Minato lovingly rubbing Kushina's very large and pronounced belly bump.

Naruto actually did have tears rolling down both of his cheeks as he looked at the countless number of pictures, and then the final one that really had the waterworks flowing. There were several pages left that he assumed would've been filled with pictures of himself and his parents as he grew up with them. Naruto wiped his face of all his tears as he held the book firmly in his hands.

"This is another one of the items that go home with me."

"I didn't think it wouldn't." Naruto nodded as they continued on.

As Naruto and Itachi finally finished their personal tour of the Namikaze manor, Naruto had his hands full with scrolls ranging from fuuinjutsu, some ninjutsu including his father's famed Rasengan, and some advanced Taijutsu scrolls.

"Think you got everything you need?" Itachi said with a hint of mirth in his voice.

"Are you kidding?! I got all that and then some! I can't wait to get back to training!" Naruto exclaimed with a gleam in his eyes.

"Well, I'm sure this will help you improved at a much faster rate, who knows maybe you'll even get to my level… in about thirty years." Itachi said with a smirk

"Oh, haha, laugh it up Itachi-sensei. I'll remember that when you're defeated by my hands one day." Naruto said with full confidence.

"Oh by all means you can try. But, I don't think you'll find it as easy to do as it is to actually speak the words." Itachi said sagely.

"Hmph!" Naruto snorted as he turned his head the other way in such a child-like fashion.

'He probably doesn't even know that this is all just to motivate him to one day surpass me.' Itachi thought with a smirk, 'I don't even have a doubt thought that both he and Sasuke will surpass me one day. Their resolves to be strong and the friends that they have already made have proven that they will be strong.'

"Anyway, it's about time you should be getting home. Let's go." Itachi said as he grabbed Naruto, and shunshinned in front of the Sarutobi home as he had done earlier that day.

"After I master everything on these scrolls you definitely have to teach me that. I refuse to take 'no' for an answer." Naruto said seriously.

Itachi merely chuckled while shaking his head, "It is better to focus on one thing at a time until you fully master it. I'll teach you once you've proven that you can actually do what's on those scrolls. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow Naruto-kun." Itachi said with a small wave and he left with a puff of smoke.

Naruto knew he would learn it eventually, he thought as he began to walk inside the place he called home, but trying to get Itachi-sensei to do something is hard considering his hectic schedule. He's lucky he's ever even able to see him as it is. Little did he know that Hiruzen purposely keeps Itachi less busy than most of his Anbu for the express reason of training Naruto and his friends, not that he'd ever tell them.

**X- Two weeks later –X**

It had been a tense couple weeks for Itachi, Shisui, and the rest of the Uchiha clan as the date of the coup is setting closer and closer. Tense for the Uchiha's in knowing that they're going to war. Tense for Itachi and Shisui, as they know that they're more than likely going to have to fight, with intent to kill, all of the people who they grew up with as family.

Danzo was also becoming a huge pain in the ass. The man was almost LITERALLY breathing down the necks of the two Uchiha for a solution to the coup as if they didn't already have enough problems of their own.

Both Shisui and Itachi were no fools. They are both highly intelligent as people and Itachi is actually regarded for his intelligence being second to only those of the Nara clan. They had thought of almost every avenue they could take with dealing with their clan and could not find a resolute option that would guarantee the Uchiha not attacking the Leaf. The only viable option that they had left in their opinions, was for Shisui to use the Kotoamatsukami on Fugaku, and make it seem as though he has seen the error in staging a coup that would just end in their extermination.

"I want to believe it will work, heck, it probably WOULD. However, this isn't going to be guaranteed. I can't force this upon your father and have him living the rest of his days in a zombie-like state." Shisui said in a regretful tone.

"I'm not sure as though we have any more choice my friend. The coup is drawing near, and we are very close to being out of time, and I refuse to let my outoto (little brother) live in a village that he despises for annihilating his clan. No matter how much he may states that he loves the village, his heart would be shattered if Leaf ninja were to be the cause of my mother and father's deaths." Itachi said calmly.

"We can't base me going through with this off of a six-year old's emotions, Itachi. You know as well as I do that I wouldn't want anybody I know to have to go through that, including myself, I just want to keep the window of time for options to be open for as long as feasibly possible." Shisui said with conviction.

Itachi sighed as he saw the truth in his friend's words. No matter how much he may love Sasuke, he can't just put the wishes of him over the whole village. This situation is a matter of mass life and death, and could start from right within his home.

"I at least wish we knew the very day of the coup. My father told me that the day was coming VERY soon, however only he would know what day it is, and it isn't completely pre-meditated."

Shisui raised his eyebrow at this in confusion, "What is that even supposed to mean?" He said in an exasperated tone.

"This would be another thing I am currently stumped on, because I in fact have no idea whatsoever. It's almost as if he is waiting for something he doesn't even expect to happen, to happen before he strikes." Itachi said with a shrug.

**X- Hokage Office, Same day –X**

The aftermath of the Third Great Ninja war was a hindrance to the old Hokage, who we currently find smoking on his famed pipe while reading a ludicrous proposal from Raikage Ai to him.

'_Dear Hokage-dono,_

_I would like to resolve our differences in light of the fact that we have not been fighting for several years. I do not wish to cause civil disorder between my people, and yours from a war that is far behind us. However, my fellow members on the Civilian Council of Kumogakure, feel as though a very small fee of 10 million ryo is in order for the damage that you're late Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, caused to our village in one of the many battles. If this were up to me, this would all be settled and done, but alas, my hands are tied, and there is nothing I can do about this situation. Please try to get back to me at your leisure with your response. I'm looking forward to getting it.'_

_ Sincerely,_

_ Raikage Ai_

"Bullshit." The Hokage swore under his breath as he finished the letter. He wasn't even sure if there was a civilian council. Kumokagure is around 85% militarized, and the civilians there are looked upon as nothing more than a nuisance since they can't actually fight for their country. Of course he wasn't going to call him on it. Even if the Raikage is a bloated ape, he's still a respected Kage of the Five Elemental Nations. Hiruzen would write him a formal response later.

**X- Later that Night, Uchiha Compound –X**

Another bond that goes deep between Naruto and Sasuke, is their meeting place at the lake in the Uchiha compound. It was a particularly bright night as a full moon hung in the sky and shone of the lake in a beautiful way. It is here we find the young Uchiha patiently waiting as his feet dangle only inches above the calm shore.

"It's about time you showed up," Sasuke said as he got up and turned to face the figure that just landed behind him. "Naruto."

"I haven't really come around in a while due to my private training, sorry. What was it that was so urgent anyway?" Naruto said apologetically.

"Not here. We need a more secluded spot where we won't be heard." Sasuke said in a very serious tone.

This took Naruto aback a little, although he didn't let it show much, "Did you have a place in mind?"

"It's a bit inconsiderate, but I'm a 'hide in plain sight' kind of person, so I think we should head over to the memorial stone. We can look like we're having casual conversation after paying our respects." Sasuke finished to which Naruto nodded as they both jumped off.

As they both approached the Memorial Stone they paid their respects to all of the fellow Konoha ninja who had fallen in battle to keep the village they live in safe from harm. It was after a couple of minutes that they both unclasped their hands from the prayer position and Naruto was the first to speak.

"I really am sorry I haven't been by in a couple weeks. I know you've probably wanted to get some training in, but I actually have been busy working on my own attributes you know?"

"While I have missed having a training partner on my level, that's not what I came here to speak about. It's a more… personal matter." Sasuke said with a bit of apprehension.

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he responded, "You sounding nervous? This is a first." Naruto said with a small smirk.

"Idiot. This goes far beyond anything I could have ever imagined. You'd be nervous too if you were in my position. What I DO want to tell you far from something than an ordinary situation. Get it?" Sasuke said seriously.

"Fine, fine don't get so worked up. What is it exactly?"

"Well… this isn't something so easy to say as it is the first time that I'd had to tell anybody since I've been told." Sasuke said as he stared at the ground. "It's embarrassing to me as a person because the actions are not mine, but will be acted upon as if they were my own."

Sasuke paused a he gave a long sigh and looked towards the moon that illuminated brightly in the sky.

"My… My clan is preparing an attack on the village…" Sasuke said barely over a whisper.

Naruto chuckled as Sasuke looked at him with a bewildered visage on his face.

"How could possibly be funny to YOU?" Sasuke said, still confused.

"Nothing really. Just the fact that my face would probably look how yours does right now if I didn't already know of what you just told me."

"I was wondering if there was ever an actual point in following you, but I see now that there was one." Said a masculine voice as he appeared before the two boys. He was of average built, looked to be around his late thirties, and was wearing standard issue Konoha headband that all shinobi wore. However, what made him stand out mostly was the red and white fan on the back of his shirt, and the Sharingan that he glared at them with.

"Sasuke, you know that the Uchiha doesn't accept traitors, and it will only be that you are young and that your father is the clan head that will get you out of trouble this one time. However, your friend has to die. He knows too much." The unnamed Uchiha stated as he used his superior speed to get behind Naruto and slashed a kunai downwards.

It was all Sasuke and Naruto could do to barely turn their heads toward the man as time seemed to slow to a standstill. Just as it seemed as though our young hero's life would come to an untimely end, another kunai quickly blocked the assailant's.

"Looks like I wasn't late this time around, thankfully." Said the figure blocking the Uchiha's kunai. He was a fairly tall man around his late twenties with the standard Konoha Jounin flak jacket along with blue ninja pants and black sandals. He also wore the standard Konoha headband although his was altered to cover his left eye, pair that with his silver, gravity defying hair and we have none other than the Elite Jounin Kakashi Hatake.

"How ironic, I get to take down the very ninja who prances around with our power as if it is his own." The Uchiha sneered as he battled for power with Kakashi.

"Well, this power IS my own. It wasn't taken, but rather given and it's a shame for you to disgrace the clan member who gave his life in giving this to me." Kakashi said as he held back the man with ease. "Naruto, Sasuke, I'll handle this. You two can step back now." The two young boys both hurriedly nodded and jumped back about fifty feet.

It was at this spot that Sasuke fell to one knee as he clutched his eyes in pain, he got up before Naruto could help him, but he was very confused as to where that came from because he had not been injured physically. When he looked over to Naruto he got another surprise as Naruto's eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly agape.

"What? What is it?!" Sasuke said, panicked.

"Your eyes…. You have three tomoe in each…"

They were both shaken out of their revelry when they heard the bone-chilling scream come from the Uchiha as Kakashi had successfully taken him out with a stab to his gut. The Uchiha made a mistake when he overextended in a slash and was caught off guard when Kakashi swiftly dodged and countered with the stab. As the man's eyes started to lose their light slowly he had one phrase left to utter.

"Heh… I may lose… but I still win…" Were the man's last words.

"I think I know what he meant by that." Sasuke said as he stared at the corpse of the dead man. "This man was following me under the orders of my father, more than likely. With his death, my father will grow suspicious and the tensions between the village and my clan will grow even stronger won't they Kakashi?" Sasuke said sullenly.

"I'm afraid that's the way it is Sasuke. But, for now we are the only three to know of this, and I feel as though it shouldn't come to light at all until after this whole dispute is settled. I'll give a full-detailed report of what happened tomorrow to the Hokage. For now, you two have to swear to me that you can keep this in secrecy. If anybody, ANYBODY finds out about this, it may send this village into utter chaos and destruction. Do you two understand?" Kakashi said seriously.

"Hai Kakashi-san." Came the answer from both boys.

"Alright, good. By the way Sasuke, it looks like you now have the record for youngest Uchiha with a full-developed Sharingan good job." Kakashi said with his patented eye smile.

"Arigato Kakashi-san, I just wish I could know what exactly caused it?"

"I'm sure if you talk with your brother more about the incident he can fill you in with more details than I can. Now come on, we've gotta leave."

Kakashi then used a small Doton(earth) jutsu that buried the man six feet under and left no trace of his body or the blood. As the three made their way to their respective homes they all were hit with a brief chill, almost as if the events of that night wouldn't have the aftermath that they'd favor.

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**UGH. DONE. I'm really so sorry. I just couldn't bring myself to go to the library every day for the story, and YETAGAIN I get hit with the damn curse of writers block. I'm just happy that I finally got Microsoft Word on my laptop and it looks like my drive for writing is story is coming more and more with the ending of Naruto. I feel as though when Naruto actually ends I'll probably end up throwing myself into this just to try to make it last as long as possible lol.**

**On a side not if anybody would be kind enough to leave a review and tell me how I'm doing on my story, whether good or bad, would be greatly appreciated. It's not to that I don't recognize those who have reviewed on my story so far. I still get a bright smile on my face when I see a notification for a review, follow, favorite, etc. Thank you to all of those who have be waiting patiently. I don't want to put any more time stipulations on a chapter. Just know that a new chapter will more than likely come out anywhere from two weeks, to a month and a half after the previous chapter release. I should definitely have pushed myself to have finished the chapter by then. **

**Have a wonderful day to whoever is out there reading my story, and above all please be safe. I hope to be writing to you all again soon.**

**-A1**


	8. Countdown Pt 2

**So it was news to me that basically everything that I got from the A/N in views and such would get erased along with the chapter lol. That came way out of left field with me but I guess you live and you learn, and NEXT time I won't delete the chapter lol. **

**I've realized that my chapters have been a bit short compared to the actual time that I'm taking to put them out. However, it was my pown fears that I'd have a chapter that would ramble on for too long or get overly detailed that would have me write the chapters a bit shorter. I now know that I can make a longer chapter a balance it better lol.**

**Chapter 8**

**Countdown Part 2**

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**X- Uchiha Clan Leader Home, Fugaku's study –X**

We now find Itachi just walking into his father's study the morning after the incident between Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, and the Uchiha assailant, all of which Itachi had be hastily informed of the night prior.

"We have a problem, Itachi." Fugaku said as Itachi took a seat in front of him. "One of my closest advisors, Ishidate, whom I had do surveillance on your younger brother, never came in for a status report throughout the night. I'm going to assume he was killed in action as he has always proven his loyalty to the clan and has been in a high-ranking position for a very long time."

For his part, Itachi kept his same impassive face throughout the message and just continued to stare at his father unblinkingly as Fugaku made a long pause before he continued again.

"I want you to investigate this, Itachi. As I said, I know him not to be traitorous, and you have the easiest free-roaming access around the village. Keep your senses open and find out what happened, by any means necessary. Report any findings to me immediately. You are dismissed." Fugaku finished as he went back to some paperwork laying before him and Itachi got up without a word, showing absolutely no emotion during the whole conversation with his father.

Once he was outside his home he swiftly, yet covertly, made his way to a dango shop where he 'happened' to stumble upon Hatake Kakashi, who looked very relaxed as his sipped on some of his Red Bean Soup.

It was then that Kakashi noticed the young Uchiha and beckoned him over in a jovial tone, "Ah! Itachi-san, I haven't seen you in quite a long time," Kakashi said with his trademark eye smile as he waved at Itachi, "won't you join me for some dango?"

"A tempting offer, but I've never been much for sweets." Itachi lied, as he knew that if pocky were to suddenly become nonexistent he would have to slaughter his whole clan and leave only his little brother alive.

'WHOA. Where the HELL did that come from?!' Itachi thought while masking his shock at his previous thought.

"Regardless, Kakashi-taicho I'd much rather just have some Green Tea, if you don't mind." Itachi stated as he sat down and called a waitress over. After requesting the drink, he then turned his attention back to Kakashi and chatted with him about some of his recent missions and their successes.

After talking for about ten minutes of light-hearted conversation about anything under the Sun, Itachi had finished his tea and respectfully let Kakashi know that he had already had some prior plans that needed to be attended too. After acknowledging this, Kakashi gave Itachi one last wave and eye smile before Itachi departed back onto the streets of Konoha. Kakashi then proceeded to finish his sweets while discretely peering into Itachi's teacup, noticing small kanji at the bottom of the cup displaying a message for him.

After reading it and finishing his dango, he then preceded to slap the cup off the table where it crashed onto the floor, leaving the cup completely shattered, and unusable.

"My oh my, I must forget to not be so clumsy," Said the silver-haired nin as he helped the waitress in cleaning up the mess, and then preceded to throw away the destroyed cup. After which he then paid for his meal and Itachi's drink and made his way out of the shop, all the while smiling to himself at the cunning of his strongest subordinate.

**X- Hokage Mansion, Naruto's Room –X**

Naruto was just awaking after having spent the whole night speaking with the Kyuubi. Since he could enter his mindscape and sleep at the same time, he thought he would spend his time enjoying the large bijuu's company, as Kurama told him stories of his mother during her youth up until the point she met his father.

Naruto at one point had decided to ask Kurama about the events of the night of his birth, causing Kurama to go silent and have a slight look of regret on his face, as he was forced to do things that he wouldn't have ever wanted to do. He held personal grudges against the likes of Madara Uchiha, and he didn't particularly care for Hashirama Senju either as he ended he freedom. But, he would never take his rage out on the WHOLE village for the actions of two individuals. He was a beast, yes, but even HE had morals.

His thoughts then began to lead more towards malevolence as Kurama thought of the masked Uchiha who ended the lives of his previous host and her mate. After seeing Kurama's ire at the recollection of the event, Naruto chose to save the topic for another time, seeing as he would learned of what happened eventually.

Putting these thoughts to the back of his mind he then began his daily morning routine of showering, brushing his teeth, and having breakfast as he pondered on what he should do today. After their encounter the previous night with the Uchiha, Naruto had surmised that it would be best to keep away from the crime scene for a few days as the event will blow over eventually.

With that in mind, Naruto stared up at the ceiling and was slightly frustrated that his Sensei wouldn't be able to train him today. If only Jiji wasn't Hokage, then he could REALLY get some training done.

"**You idiot. I've told you on numerous occasions that I would be looking for any free day you have for me to be able to train you." **The fox said while letting his annoyance be heard clearly through his voice.

'Oi. Don't blame me baka-kitsune. It's not every day you wake up and find out that a being of millenniums of years of age is taking up residence in your body. So EXCUSE ME if I can still tend to forget from time to time.' Thought the equally annoyed blonde boy as he didn't want to hear Kurama give him any smack talk.

The Kyuubi merely snorted indignantly before speaking, **"You ought to be glad I even give you the time of day, BRAT. There are people out there who wish to harness my power for they know the supreme awesomeness that is I, Kurama." **

Naruto merely sweatdropped as he heard his tenant boast about his own power, not believing that arguably the strongest being on the planet would act like such a child at times.

'I call you baka-kitsune as a means of angering you. However, I now realize that the name has probably stuck with you since before I came to be.' Naruto thought as a retort to what the fox said, where the fox promptly gained several tick marks on his forehead and growled lightly, but decided not to respond and further amuse the blonde headache.

'Well then, what would you have me do to start our first official training session?'

"**Here's what you'll need…"**

**X- Two Hours Later –X**

After making several different trips throughout the village, Naruto now found himself at Training Ground Three where he carefully set down everything that Kurama asked him to acquire. Most of the items he had were already present on his person. However, he also had to go to a few stores to get gravity seals, ink, and a book on sealing created by his father.

"**Okay brat. With all of the tools here we'll be turning you into an even bigger freak of nature than anybody in this village has ever seen.**"

However, if one listened very closely they would hear the shouting of a man screaming about the flames of youth before abruptly sneezing, then continuing his rants.

"**Now, one of the reasons your father was so highly feared by all of his enemies was his famed jutsu, the Hiraishin. It's impor-" **

"I already know all about how powerful and famous my father was, can we just get to the actual 'training' part of this?" Naruto interrupted wanting to train more then he wanted a lesson.

"**INSOLENT WELP."** Kurama let out before calming himself down. He WOULD NOT let this child get him so easily riled up, but damn was it hard to do.

"**It's important to know that the basis of the Hiraishin comes back to seals. You will NEVER be able to do the Hiraishin without being very adept at sealing. Unfortunately there are very few people who could teach you how to properly learn sealing. It was being a seal master to the highest degree that made your father so powerful. Sealing requires high intelligence to master, as well as near-perfect writing and concentration. One wrong stroke of the brush and you could blow yourself sky high."**

Naruto soaked in these words and the more he thought about it the more it made sense. The only basic seals that he knew people knew of were the ones that create paper bombs and minor sealing scrolls. He knew of nobody personally(other than Jiji, but him being a Hokage revered as, 'The Professor' and 'Kami no Shinobi' doesn't really make hard to imagine that he wouldn't know advanced sealing techniques), that knew how to do sealing jutsu or who even had a passion to learn it.

"**Your mother's clan, the Uzumaki, were very adept in the sealing arts. They were able to keep their homeland safe for hundreds of years due to the fact that trying to invade them was almost akin to suicide. It took the combined powers of the Mist, Cloud, and the Village of Hot Water to take them down. Even then all of the invaders took heavy blows to their respective village's strength, but they felt it was necessary due to the threat that posed. Do you understand now why Fuuinjutsu is so feared? It made your father an army killer that struck horror into the hearts of shinobi who crossed paths with him on the battlefield. Your whole clan was decimated for being skilled in the field."**

Naruto was now getting the true understanding of how powerful such a technique was to learn. To be able to learn Fuuinjutsu effectively could make him as powerful as most Chuunin if not higher. He sighed metally.

'I'm sorry for cutting you off earlier, it was foolish of me to believe I knew more than a being who has live for thousands of years. I can now understand why it was so powerful…my people must've been so kickass!' He thought with a proud heart, thinking of all the strong Uzumaki when they were around.

'**He's still thinking like a child, although that's not very surprising.' **Kurama thought with a chuckle.

"**Alright brat, let's get started…"**

"Hello there. Naruto." Came the masculine voice from the trees just at the edge of the clearing.

Even with a cane in hand the man's aura and posture exuding confidence and superiority. As he strode slowly into the clearing his face became more visible. He was old. VERY OLD. From what Naruto could tell. The man would have to be around Jiji's age.

"Uh… hello there mr…" Naruto said in hesitance as he awaited the man's name.

"Danzo." He stated with a slight smirk.

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Gonna cut it here guys. As always I hope to create chapters more often, but no promises K? Sorry it was a little short the next chapter will definitely be filled with some more content. On a side not if anybody reading this could please review? I PROMISE it helps me get to writing this much faster. Also, if there is anyone willing to Beta read my story it would be much appreciated. Til' next time!

-A1


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